Conceived as a synthesis of the Disney legacy, Wish: Asha and the Lucky Star presented itself as an exceptional animated film, having required a hundred years of heritage to get off the ground. Luckily, the project was released in theaters at the end of 2023, to mark the centennial of the Hollywood studio. Too bad, it has far from having sparked the hoped-for spark of magic. Despite numerous nods to its classics and a hybrid aesthetic mixing 3D and old-school pencil effects, the film was widely criticized for its lack of originality, its characters deemed bland, and its overly conventional storyline.
Between a far-fetched plot and protagonists without much interest, the box office was unequivocal. In the United States, Wish had one of the worst starts for a Disney production, ending its run at $63.5 million, far below the studio's standards and even behind films released in the midst of a pandemic like Encanto. The drop was brutal, despite the holiday season traditionally being a good time for the studio's business.
While the film has better resisted internationally, particularly in France where it exceeded 2.7 million admissions, this was not enough to compensate for the North American failure. In total, Wish barely crossed the $200 million mark in worldwide revenue, barely its production budget, not including marketing. It therefore did not reach its break-even point. This score, while avoiding absolute catastrophe, remains particularly disappointing for a production supposed to crystallize all of Disney's prestige.
The Disney+ strategy
Faced with this flop, Disney quickly bet on its Disney+ platform to try to save the day. The film was released via streaming the following spring in many countries, a strategy that has become almost systematic for titles that struggle to establish themselves in theaters. However, in France, the media chronology imposes a longer delay between the theatrical release and its availability via streaming. Wish has been available on the platform since yesterday. This is an opportunity for anyone who refused to suffer the film in theaters to discover it at a lower cost.
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