Disney fans might have to hold their excitement for the Tangled remake that was recently announced. Following the recent box office failure of Snow White, Disney is rethinking its live-action remake strategy. Made on a $270 million budget, the movie has only made $168.8 million worldwide. With the movie going into its fourth weekend, it will be lucky if it makes $200 million worldwide. Disney was relying on Snow Whites performance to further continue more live-action remakes. After all Snow White is a remake of the first animated movie ever made. Disney’s first princess as well. The original movie is truly a staple in pop culture. Which is what makes the box office prospects, and reception to the movie even more of a disappointment.
Disney has other live action remakes in the works such as Robin Hood, The Aristocats, and Hercules. It is unknown where those movies stand following this news. Those films have been in the works much longer than the live action Tangled remake. One thing for certain is that it’s highly unlikely Disney will greenlight any more live action remakes for the time being.
Having said that, that could change soon as Disney has two other live action remakes on the way. One being the Lilo and Stitch remake set to hit theatres in May. The other being the live action Moana that hits theaters June of next year. Both of those movies are almost guaranteed to be box office hits. Should those films perform as expected, the live action Tangled could easily be put back in production. Ever since the first trailer for Lilo and Stitch was released, the reactions have been fantastic. Fans of the original movie voiced their excitement all over social media, with how faithful it looks to the original.
After all that is the appeal of these live action remakes. People love to see animated movies they loved as child adapted in live action. It’s been proven that audiences love seeing that aspect, while having new elements added to it. Although not too much to deter from the original. When done with the perfect balance of nostalgia, audiences show up in droves. This is evident with the success of Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, and Aladdin. All of those films made over a billion at the box office. It’s important to note all three of those films followed that formula, whereas others that didn’t were not as successful.
Another point this brings up is not every Disney fan wants every Disney animated movie remade. Not every Disney animated movie has been a slam dunk success either. For instance Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King are considered by many to be the top three Disney movies. It would be expected that many would like to see those remade. Therefore that would translate to strong ticket sales. In comparison to movies like Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Pinocchio, and Peter Pan which flopped.
To further add to this, Aladdin and The Lion King remakes did not receive good reviews from critics. Many people contribute poor box office performance of films to bad reviews. While that absolutely is a factor in many cases, it doesn’t always paint the full picture. In the case of the three movies mentioned, audiences still showed up and many saw them multiple times. That is a huge aspect on how movies make a billion dollars. Many people will go pay to see a movie multiple times in theatres. It then creates a sense of urgency for others who have not seen it. It then becomes an event to go see in theatres for many. If the movie studio is lucky, this will encourage those people to then pay to watch it more than once also. It creates a chain of excitement where people who normally don’t go to the movies, then go because everyone is talking about it.
Disney is not done making remakes of live action movies. As previously speculated, it will really just boil down to making remakes of movies that are still very popular. For instance many people have been voicing their excitement towards live action Tangled and Hercules. A way Disney can determine which movies to remake is perhaps by looking at the online discussion for the movie. If there are tons of fan castings, and directors in mind to helm it, that’s a sign of a movie that should be made. Stephanie Scott from Seneca@York had a similar viewpoint when asked. Scott said ” No one wanted remakes of Dumbo, or Peter Pan. However when it relates to Tangled or Hercules, all I ever see online are fan castings for that movie”. Scott also said that the fan castings of Paul Mescal as Hercules and Elizabeth Gillles as Meg are a perfect example of something she didn’t know she wanted until she saw all the online castings about it. Scott also said ” The fan castings for these movies are almost a pitch for everyone to go and see it, because you have a vocal fanbase putting forward who they think would be best suited for these roles.”
As for other Disney remakes like The Artistocats, and Robin Hood, I think Disney should read the room on making those movies. There is no online discussion or excitement for those movies. Those films seem like the type of remake that would go straight to Disney plus. Previous live action remakes that went straight to Disney Plus all bombed. Those being the live action Lady & the Tramp, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio, All three of those movies had poor viewership. If audiences reject something that is offered for free on a subscription they pay for, they don’t want it.
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