Disney plans to squeeze more out of Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar. Its leaders say even box office misses like The Mandalorian and Grogu and live-action Moana boost toys, parks and Disney+.
Disney has a plan for its biggest franchises: more of them, everywhere.
Chief financial officer Hugh Johnston said one of new CEO Josh D’Amaro‘s priorities is giving fans more of the stories and characters they love, TheStreet reported Oct. 10. The goal, Johnston said, is to “increase monetization of all that great IP.”
Disney says the plan works even when a movie doesn’t.
Sounds like a recipe for squeezing IP to death.
What is Disney’s plan for its biggest franchises?
Keep using them, in as many places as possible. Johnston laid it out at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference, according to TheStreet.
“We’re doing that to increase our ability to create new products,” he said.
He also hinted at where Disney+ could go. Beyond movies and shows, Johnston said, the app could someday include consumer products, parks and cruises, ways to interact with Disney’s talent and IP, and “even potentially gaming.”
So one Star Wars movie isn’t just a movie. It’s a toy aisle, a ride, a cruise theme and a streaming hit, all at once.
Did The Mandalorian and Grogu flop at the box office?
By Star Wars standards, yes. The Mandalorian and Grogu opened May 22 and has made about $345.8 million worldwide, according to The Numbers. Its production budget was $165 million.
That’s far below Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which made nearly $1.1 billion in 2019, according to TheStreet.
A common Hollywood rule of thumb says a movie needs to earn about two and a half times its budget in theaters to break even once marketing costs are added. The Mandalorian and Grogu landed at about 2.1 times.
Did live-action Moana lose money?
It’s on track to. Disney’s live-action Moana opened July 10 and has made about $323.6 million worldwide, according to The Numbers, on a reported $250 million budget.
In July, Deadline estimated the movie could lose $100 million to $125 million, according to WDW News Today. It opened to just $43 million in the U.S. and Canada.
It also came out less than two years after Moana 2.
How does Disney say these movies still made money?
Through everything else. D’Amaro addressed both movies on Disney’s third-quarter earnings call in August.
“Even when our franchise films don’t meet our box office expectations,” he said, those investments still “fuel other parts of our company.”
He said The Mandalorian and Grogu drove “healthy growth in retail sales“ for Star Wars and brought guests to the updated Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It also led to strong engagement in gaming, he said.
As for Moana, D’Amaro said it’s expected to be a strong title on Disney+. He added that the 2016 animated original is one of the most-streamed movies ever.
Disney hasn’t released dollar figures for any of that. More of a “trust me bro” in what is likely a play to boost stock prices.
What does Toy Story 5 have to do with it?
It’s Disney’s best example of the plan working. Toy Story 5 opened in June and passed $1 billion worldwide by late July, according to Cartoon Brew.
Johnston said it did much more than sell tickets. Disney had its highest growth rate in consumer products in 20 years, he said, and the movie also did well on Disney+.
“Refreshing that story is beneficial to us in the parks and cruises,” he added.
Are fans getting tired of Disney’s franchises?
Some are. An independent survey from SSRS asked 3,364 U.S. adults about Marvel. Among people who’d seen at least one Marvel movie or show, 34 percent said Marvel releases too many of them, and 29 percent said the quality has gotten worse, according to TheStreet.
Former CEO Bob Iger admitted the problem himself in 2023. “Quantity can be actually a negative when it comes to quality,” he said on Disney’s fourth-quarter earnings call that year.
What does this mean for Disney fans?
More of what you already know: more Star Wars, more Marvel, more remakes and more ways to buy into them, from Disney+ to the parks.
The tricky part for Disney is finding the line between giving fans more and giving them too much. For now, the company is betting that even a box office miss still pays off somewhere else.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
TheStreet, Daniel Kline (Oct. 10, 2026), Hugh Johnston’s Communacopia remarks, Josh D’Amaro’s earnings call comments, the SSRS survey and Bob Iger’s 2023 quote
The Numbers (Oct. 2026), the box office totals and budgets for The Mandalorian and Grogu and Moana
Deadline, via WDW News Today (July 2026), the projected Moana loss and opening weekend
Cartoon Brew (July 27, 2026), Toy Story 5 passing $1 billion
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