It’s hard to imagine that the box office performance of “Strange World” will significantly affect Disney from a financial standpoint. However, it will likely serve as a major wake-up call for the company. You can’t have a lackadaisical approach to promoting your projects, especially not when they have budgets of $180 million or higher. It’s also more important for the company to create a better idea of their theatrical and streaming release schedule, as well as consider reining in the ballooning budgets of their animated movies.

Disney is too powerful a company to be taken down by one financial bomb, and the striking visual style of “Strange World” should be appreciated regardless of how much money it made. However, it seems that there were several business-related factors potentially at play that caused the film to underperform. There’s a chance that it will be too easy to point the finger at one specific issue, such as the reception and promotion of the film’s diversity, and say that was the reason it bombed. 

Things in the entertainment industry are rarely that straightforward, especially for a company as influential as Disney. While it’s sad to see the work of hundreds of people fail to turn a profit, here’s to hoping the mishandling of “Strange World” is the motivation the company needs to get back on track.