One of 2023's Most Expensive Flops Has Just Arrived on Disney+

Summary

• In 2023, most of Disney 's releases had budgets of more than $200 million, but the box office showed that big budgets don't always equate to success.
• For example, Disney's most expensive failure was the movie that ended the iconic franchise created by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
• The film is now available on Disney+.

2023 was another disaster for Disney: The company has a long history of investing obscene budgets in feature films designed to make obscene profits. But audiences have long since stopped getting excited about Disney's big-budget releases. Almost every high-profile premiere turns out to be a sleeper hit at best, and more often than not, an absolute financial failure with scathing reviews from enraged critics and audiences.

Disney's pursuit of profit, which results in endless unoriginal content that exhausts not only viewers but also production teams, only leads to more fatigue and disappointment. This is largely due to the media giant's heavy reliance on its Disney+ streaming service, releasing endless series and adding feature films just months after their theatrical release. As such, the latest addition to its library is one of the most anticipated and expensive movies that turned out to be an equally massive flop.

But we're not going to miss the chance to watch it now that it's on the streaming service, are we, Disney+ subscribers?

The Most Expensive and Disastrous Movie Is Now on Disney+

You've probably guessed it by now, so let's not drag it out. We're talking about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the latest installment in the legendary adventure franchise that sees Harrison Ford reprise his iconic role as Indy for the last time. From December 1, the film is available for streaming on Disney+.

The film was directed by acclaimed filmmaker James Mangold, who rose to fame with the 2017 superhero hit Logan and the 2019 biographical drama Ford v Ferrari. The screenplay was written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, who also worked on Ford v Ferrari, and David Koepp, the writer of such an iconic movie as Jurassic Park, who also went on to work on another failed Indiana Jones movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Original creators Steven Spielberg and George Lucas served as executive producers.

Those names alone generated no small amount of pre-release hype, and it only increased with the news that Dial of Destiny was reportedly one of the most expensive films ever made. The budget was around $294.7–300 million, and that's not even counting marketing costs! But even then, many doubted that the movie would be a commercial success, because in order to recoup such high expenses, the box office would have to make an incredible $600 million just to break even.

Alas, this did not happen, and the movie promptly crashed and burned in the first few days of its release. The final worldwide gross was only $384 million.

Where and How to See It, Including Disney+?

If the box office failure and critical bombshells haven't put you off, and you still want to stream Dial of Destiny, there are several options on Disney+:

• The basic ad-supported plan, which costs $7.99 per month.
• The ad-free plan, which costs $13.99 per month. Also allows you to download certain content.

In addition, you can always buy or rent the movie from other services, including Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft Store, YouTube, and more. Rentals start at $5.99 and purchases start at $9.99.

Other Major Disney Flops of 2023

The only Disney movie that was truly successful was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which grossed $845.6 million and received lukewarm reviews. However, almost every other release this year was a commercial failure. Let's look at the most notorious of them.

3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Release date: February 17

Budget: $200 million

Global box-office: $476.1 million

Rotten Tomatoes score: 46%

2. The Marvels

Release date: November 10

Budget: $220 million

Global box-office: $204.6 million

Rotten Tomatoes score: 61%

1. Wish

Release date: November 22

Budget: $175–200 million

Global box-office: $126.5 million

Rotten Tomatoes score: 49%

Quantumania is also available on Disney+ but given the company's need to somehow recoup the cost of the other two films, we should expect to see them added to the streaming service's library in the coming months.