Disney is one of the most prolific entertainment companies in the world, and Wicked is one of the world’s most popular musicals. This Thanksgiving, these two giants will be going up against each other at the box office.
Starting with pros and cons for both: Disney has a massive reach, and brand recognition is an important factor in this age of movies. Wicked is also well known, but only in certain circles. More money and effort needs to be placed into advertising to get people interested, while Disney simply needs to inform people that they are making a movie, and many people will come anyway.
On Wicked’s side, the film has been in production for years, and some are worried it will not live up to the hype surrounding it. Many are excited, yet still wary, especially after Mean Girls (2023), another highly anticipated adaptation, did not live up to the expectations of many fans. This is slightly mitigated by the reaction to the trailer, which a few people have claimed that it “wasn’t afraid to be a musical,” unlike Mean Girls, which had a very small musical element in its marketing.
Wicked has already made concessions to Disney, in moving its release date to avoid competition. Wicked was originally set to release on November 27th, the same as Moana 2, but Wicked has changed to be shown on November 18th. This mitigates a bit of competition, but Moana 2 is still expected to overtake Wicked’s profits, and Moana 2 would be a shoe-in for the “win”, if not for a simple thing.
Many people are of the opinion that Disney has been going downhill in recent years. Especially with the failure of the recent Wish, as well as Disney becoming “obsessed” with remakes and sequels. A few feel that Disney has “stopped trying”, so to speak. These people believe that Disney is only making money off low-effort sequels of things people actually enjoy. This may be able to push Wicked ahead at the box office.
