‘We, the customers, are not supposed to hype up a movie’: Disney’s next box office bomb seems inevitable as viewers are blamed for marketing blunders

You probably know Disney released the live-action version of The Little Mermaid earlier this year. You probably also know that the live-action version of Snow White is on the horizon given the sheer amount of controversy it attracted a couple of weeks back. But did you know that Disney is releasing the original animated movie Wish later this year? If you haven’t, you’re not alone. 

For a company obsessed with reboots, remakes, and reimaginings, the notion of original content can feel like a splash of cold water to the face. Wait, what? Original content? We don’t know her… 

Wish premieres in theaters Thanksgiving weekend, on Nov. 22. It stars Ariana DeBose as Asha, a young girl who wishes upon a star to save her community from the evil ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico, played by Chris Pine. The movie is about the power of courage and the resilience of the human heart, and going off the teaser trailer alone, it has all the signs of being the next Frozen. 

The only problem — or at least the problem Disney fans online have taken issue with — is its lack of marketing. On Twitter, a debate broke out over who’s responsible for generating hype for the movie — the consumer or the studio — because at present, there is none. 

“I like the implication that it’s a moral failing that consumers aren’t taking it upon themselves to hype up the next Disney movie,” one user said.

As another user so adeptly put it: “We, the customers, are not supposed to hype up a movie. That’s the job of Disney’s marketing.”

One person pointed out that if Disney spared even a fraction of the money it invested in The Little Mermaid into marketing Wish, excitement for the film would see a stark improvement. 

It wouldn’t be the first time Disney failed to market its projects. Back in May, the Disney Plus original movie Crater crash-landed on the streaming platform with hardly any fanfare. The movie was then erased from the platform seven weeks later as part of the company’s cost-cutting strategy. 

Disney’s preference for marketing its live-action movies has become clear in recent years. Had Elemental been properly advertised it might not have had to rely on overseas revenue to keep its profit afloat. The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Strange World, and Lightyear are among the recent movies that conspired to lose the Mouse House upwards of $1 billion. The Haunted Mansion and Disney’s devotion to theme park ride adaptations have also lost the studio upwards of $1 billion.

There’s no guessing where Wish will fall on the spectrum, but should the Mouse House want to distance itself from being labeled a studio that churns out box-office bombs, it’d do well to invest more money into marketing and less into unnecessary budgets. Barbie is a prime example of succeeding with a reasonable budget. The film operated with $145 million, yet its impeccable marketing earned the film over $1 billion. 

Word of mouth is powerful, but to get to that point, there must be a spark that ignites the fire. Disney’s brand name can only take it so far. A brand is like Rome — it wasn’t built in a day, but it can crumble overnight if it’s not careful.