• Hunchback of Notre Dame is yet to get a live action remake

• Pocahontas is another one I can see getting the live action remake treatment

• The Incredibles franchise going from Pixar & Disney animation to live action

• Up, Soul, Coco, Encanto, Frozen and Brave all get live action remakes next

After the failure of Snow White, Disney seemed to have paused development on several live-action remakes that weren’t already deep in production—like Moana. It’s clear this shift happened because Snow White bombed much harder than expected, especially when compared to earlier remakes. And disney started to rethink if all live action remakes might be a hit

And honestly, yeah—it’s pretty clear that live-action remakes can’t just be pulled from any random era and still rake in a billion dollars. Even though jungle book almost did so it only worked because at that point it was the start of something new with Disney live action remakes . But now? You can’t expect major box office success from remakes of films most younger audiences barely know and the older generation that do know don’t care about anymore—or sadly aren’t here to see it like Snow White.

But I’m not entirely sure that Disney is giving up on it just yet what I think what will happen is Disney is probably going to refocus their remake strategy after the inevitable success of Lilo & Stitch, but with a tighter lens. That means sticking to millennial and Gen Z favorites. As for future projects I doubt any of the really old ones are ever being made again. Even the early 2000s ones might not be made just yet, and it’s not because of they have no nostalgia only because they are more likely further down the line after they’ve mined the more recent and popular 2010s content.

If I had to bet, Frozen is next after Moana. It has a mega-popular soundtrack, iconic characters, insane merch sales, and even a Broadway adaptation. If not Frozen, then Tangled—which we’ve already heard whispers about.

And look even if you’re not a fan of the remakes (I’m kind of indifferent myself—I don’t hate them, I just don’t care much), the one upside is they might still help boost the ever-shrinking box office pie. Whether or not they deserve to make bank I most certainly don’t think so, but hey those are just my thoughts

In this post, I will look into Disney, the studio obsessed with the Predator IP so much that they got 20th Century Studios to release three Predator films in the span of three years. Besides that, Disney is known for films like The Avengers, Inside Out, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 20th Century Fox was known for films like Star Wars, Avatar, and Deadpool. 20th Century Studios is known for films like Free Guy, Barbarian, and Avatar: The Way of Water. More recently, 20th Century Studios is known for films like The Boogeyman, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Alien: Romulus. More recently, Disney is known for films like Lilo & Stitch, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Freakier Friday.

Disney In The Past Three Years

If you exclude 20th Century Studios’ Avatar: The Way of Water (which made $2.3B worldwide and became the 3rd highest grossing film of all time), Disney’s only wins in 2022 were the MCU films like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($956M), Thor: Love and Thunder ($761M), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($859M). Animation was not working for Disney as Turning Red got dumped onto Disney+. Lightyear and Strange World are some of the biggest box office bombs of all time, only making $226M worldwide and $74M worldwide, respectively. Despite their problems in 2022, Disney managed to be 2nd place in terms of market share, being behind Universal.

To celebrate their 100th anniversary, Disney was once again behind Universal in 2023. If 2022 wasn’t great for animation, 2023 was bad for everyone. None of the 20th Century Studios and Disney films in 2023 made a profit. The only exception was Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, which made $846M worldwide. At least Warner Bros got a billion dollar film on their 100th anniversary, something Disney failed to do, which is weird since Disney has more billion dollar films than Warner Bros.

2024 ended up being the exact opposite of 2023. While 2023 had only one profitable Disney film, 2024 had only one Disney film that didn’t break even: The First Omen, which was distributed by 20th Century Studios and only made $54M. 20th Century Studios relied heavily on their IP that year besides The First Omen, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes making $397M and Alien Romulus making $351M. Mufasa: The Lion King managed to make $723M, even with competition from Sonic 3. Disney had three billion dollar films with Moana 2, which made $1B, Deadpool & Wolverine, which made $1.3B, and their highest grossing film of 2024, Inside Out 2, which made $1.7B worldwide. Let’s see how 2025 was for Disney and 20th Century Studios.

2025

Captain America: Brave New World - I think Marvel needs to stop releasing their films in February. Sure, Black Panther made $1.3B, but Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Captain America: Brave New World couldn’t even hit half a billion. It also doesn’t help that the latter two films aren’t good. While the previous MCU film, Deadpool & Wolverine, made $1.3B worldwide, it didn’t prop up Captain America: Brave New World. Deadpool & Wolverine mostly took place either in the Void or in the Fox X-Men Universe, and most moviegoers saw it as separate from the MCU brand. Captain America: Brave New World pretty much followed up on The Marvels, which was one of the biggest bombs of all time. Fortunately, it didn’t do that bad, but the film ended up making $415M worldwide on a budget of $180M, failing to hit the break even point of $425M. While Captain America: Brave New World didn’t suffer the same fate as The Marvels, the next Disney film did.

Snow White - In 1937, people considered Snow White to be Disney’s folly. After 88 years, those people were finally right. Imagine butchering the one film that started the Disney empire in the first place. And yet it happened. There were years of built up controversy. There were rumors of the dwarfs being replaced by seven bandits. Disney would end up having seven CGI abominations (that could possibly be dwarfs) as well as seven bandits. People were also critical of the casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White. She also came off as disrespectful of the original 1937 film. Say what you want about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but it’s one of the most influential films of all time, for Disney, animation, Hollywood, and for cinema in general. It’s not smart to crap on a beloved classic. Rachel Zegler became a PR nightmare for Disney. Snow White would end up making $206M worldwide on a budget of $270M, being one of the biggest box office bombs for Disney and losing the studio at least $115M.

The Amateur - 20th Century Studios would start 2025 with The Amateur. The film would end up making $96M worldwide on a budget of $60M, underperforming at the box office. 20th Century Studios would then crawl into a hole and hide from movie theaters for half a year, after previously staying away from them for eight months between Alien: Romulus and The Amateur.

Thunderbolts* - Marvel wanted to redeem themselves after Captain America: Brave New World. Critically, they did, as Thunderbolts* got positive reviews. Box office wise, this ended up being worse than Captain America: Brave New World. The film only made $382M worldwide on a budget of $180M, falling short of the $425M break even point. Marvel would change the name to *The New Avengers after its opening weekend. While it was planned, this felt like damage control to push people to watch it as the successor to the Avengers. If we were to consider this an Avengers film like Marvel did at one point, Thunderbolts* is technically the lowest grossing Avengers film. Marvel has distanced themselves from the rebrand, as they don’t want the Avengers brand to be dragged down by Thunderbolts*. Kevin Feige would blame the film’s underperformance on people believing that they had to see all the Disney+ shows to watch Thunderbolts*, which shouldn’t have been necessary at all. This is proof that Disney+ Marvel shows are one of the worst things to happen to the MCU. Disney really couldn’t catch a break with four films in a row not breaking even. Fortunately for Disney, they did catch a break later in the month of May 2025.

Lilo & Stitch - Snow White was supposed to be proof that no one cared about live action remakes, to the point where Disney paused the Tangled remake. Lilo & Stitch ended up being proof that people still cared about live action remakes, which led to Disney resuming development on a Tangled remake. Originally meant for Disney+, Lilo & Stitch would get a theatrical release and end up making $1B worldwide on a budget of $100M, being a huge hit for Disney. Good on Disney for having that win. If only their next film made even half of what Lilo & Stitch made.

Elio - Inside Out 2 became Pixar’s biggest film of all time, while Elio would become Pixar’s lowest grossing film that wasn’t affected by COVID. The film would only make $154M worldwide on a budget of $200M, being a box office bomb for Disney. Sony/Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters would drop the same day and become a cultural phenomenon, while Elio would fade into obscurity.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps - For all the IP that Disney got from Fox, it seems like Disney will never make a film that will actually surpass the Fox version of it. Not saying the Disney versions are bad, but they wouldn’t be as good. Examples include Planet of the Apes, The Omen, Star Wars, Alien, Predator, Home Alone, Ice Age, Night at the Museum, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The only exception is The Fantastic Four. Every Fox Fantastic Four has been negatively received. Disney finally made a good Fantastic Four film, and I’m not just talking about The Incredibles. The Fantastic Four: First Steps would end up making $522M worldwide on a budget of $200M, being a hit for Disney. What did help the film do better than Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* was that it felt contained in its own universe and not tied down by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even if they will connect in Avengers: Doomsday. They aren’t huge numbers, but they are first steps in the right direction. Pun intended.

Freakier Friday - What’s this? A Disney film that doesn’t cost $100M+ to make? Am I seeing this correctly? Are we sure this isn’t actually a 20th Century Studios film in disguise? If you were to exclude 20th Century Studios films, Touchstone films, and DisneyNature films, Freakier Friday is the cheapest Disney film since Queen of Katwe back in 2016. Freakier Friday would make $153M worldwide on a budget of $45M. Usually, a Disney film that only makes $153M should be considered a failure like Elio, but since the budget is only $45M, Freakier Friday is a hit for Disney. Unfortunately, a low budget Disney film seems like a once in a blue moon sort of thing rather than something Disney should do more often instead of blowing $100M+ on movies that people may not necessarily care about. Just like the next film I’m talking about.

Tron: Ares - Disney seems to make a Tron film every time things aren’t going their way. Disney released the original Tron at a time when their most notable film of the early 80s was The Fox and the Hound. Not a bad film, but nothing spectacular compared to other Walt Disney Animation Studios films. The original Tron made $50M worldwide on a budget of $17M. While it did make money, it didn’t make enough for Disney to bother with Tron 2. Disney released Tron: Legacy at a time when Disney was trying to find a big blockbuster like Pirates of the Caribbean to appeal to men. Tron: Legacy made $410M worldwide on a budget of $170M. While it did make money, it didn’t make enough for Disney to make a Tron 3 in the 2010s when they just bought Marvel and Star Wars. Both Tron and Tron: Legacy would end up being cult classics. Tron: Ares was released when Marvel and Star Wars stopped making the big money that it used to make in the 2010s. While the first two Tron films did make money, Tron: Ares wouldn’t be so lucky. The film made $142M worldwide on a budget of $220M, being a box office bomb for Disney and losing the studio over $130M. It didn’t help that Disney went in a different direction than what Tron: Legacy set up. Most Tron fans became fans because of Legacy, not because of the 1982 film. Tron himself didn’t even show up in the film, and neither did Sam Flynn and Quorra. I’m not saying that a sequel to Tron: Legacy would’ve made significantly more, but I think the film would’ve actually hit the budget at the very least.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere - 20th Century Studios came out of hiding after half a year to release Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. Unlike the flashy biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis, and Better Man, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is more on the drama side of things than a musical. Unfortunately, the film would only make $44M worldwide on a budget of $55M, being a box office bomb for 20th Century Studios. Mortal Kombat II would’ve definitely finished this film off had it stayed in October 2025.

Predator: Badlands - 20th Century Studios finally releases a Predator film on streaming after Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers ended up on Hulu. Excluding the Alien vs. Predator films, Predator: Badlands would be the first Predator film to be rated PG-13. While this could be seen as Predator being Disneyfied, no humans are present in the film, so the R-rated violence is still there but without the blood to splatter all over the screen. As of this post, Predator: Badlands made $169M worldwide, being the highest grossing Predator film. However, with a budget of $105M, this can only be seen as an underperformance for 20th Century Studios. It could probably hit $200M when all is said and done, but it won’t be enough to justify a sequel to Predator: Badlands. The futuristic setting may have jacked up the budget for this film, so a future Predator film should be like the previous Predator films in which they take place either in the past or the present day.

Zootopia 2 - This film feels more like a celebration of Disney’s 100th anniversary than Wish, even if it releases 102 years after the company was founded. It has a huge cast of characters, with some actors from previous Disney films. Heck, Bob Iger’s in the film. It’s like if David Ellison was in The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants or if Tom Rothman was in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. The film is about the centennial anniversary of Zootopia’s founding. And unlike Wish, Zootopia 2 is actually good. Of all the sequels from Walt Disney Animation Studios, this is easily the best one. As of this post, the film has made $556M worldwide on a budget of $150M, being a huge hit for Disney. By the end of its run, it should at least hit $1.5B worldwide, with a huge possibility of the film reaching higher than that. While Lilo & Stitch could cover the losses of Captain America: Brave New World, Snow White, The Amateur, and Thunderbolts*, Zootopia 2 could cover the losses of Elio, Tron: Ares, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, and Predator: Badlands.

20th Century Studios Films That Haven’t Been Released Yet

There’s still two films from 20th Century Studios that haven’t been released yet: Ella McCay and Avatar: Fire and Ash. One of them is pretty much guaranteed to make $2B and the other is Avatar: Fire and Ash. Let’s see how well both films do.

Ella McCay - Its a political comedy-drama film directed by James L. Brooks. r/boxoffice predicts that Ella McCay will make $9M domestically and $17M worldwide. Unless the budget is somehow $8M or less, this film isn’t making a profit. This could be a “one for you, one for me” where 20th Century Studios wanted James L. Brooks to make The Simpsons Movie 2 and in return, he gets to make Ella McCay. At least 20th Century Studios has another film coming out a week later.

Avatar: Fire and Ash - It’s an epic science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and is the third film in the Avatar franchise. r/boxoffice predicts that Avatar: Fire and Ash will make $646M domestically and $2.24B worldwide. If true, this could beat Ne Zha 2 to become the highest grossing film of 2025. I’m not betting against James Cameron, but this film would be $100M less than the second film. I’m wondering if it would be a downward trajectory for Avatar 4 and 5 to the point where one or both of them would go under $2B. It’s still four years away, so anything could happen, but there’s no denying that the novelty of Avatar may have worn out a bit. Regardless, $2B worldwide is still really good for any film to make.

How Did Disney Do This Year?

The 2025 lineup was pretty good, but there are a lot of concerning aspects about it too. It’s harder for Pixar to release big original films, with Elio blowing up in their face. Marvel is probably the biggest concern for Disney, as Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* underperformed. While The Fantastic Four: First Steps made money, none of the 2025 MCU films broke $600M worldwide. Disney really needs to hope that Avengers: Doomsday knocks it out of the park. If Disney barely cares about Tron, they’re about to care about it even less after Tron: Ares flopped. The underperformance of Predator: Badlands may cause Disney to rethink how to approach the franchise in theaters. But let’s not be a downer the whole time. Lilo & Stitch made $1B, and Zootopia 2 will easily surpass it. Avatar: Fire and Ash is guaranteed to make $2B as well. Those three films alone can cover any losses Disney and 20th Century Studios had with their flops this year. Let’s see how well 2026 is for Disney and 20th Century Studios.

2026

Send Help - It’s a horror thriller film directed by Sam Raimi. 20th Century Studios kicks off 2026 with Sam Raimi’s return to horror after 17 years with Send Help. Even with the January release date, I could see this film doing similar numbers to Drag Me to Hell. I’d say Send Help makes $50M domestically and $110M worldwide.

Psycho Killer - It’s a horror thriller film directed by Gavin Polone. Between the two horror thrillers that 20th Century Studios is planning to release back to back, Send Help will probably do better. I do see Psycho Killer make $35M domestically and $80M worldwide. I think both films will be huge successes for 20th Century Studios, especially if the budget for these films are low.

Hoppers - It’s a science fiction comedy film directed by Daniel Chong. Disney said the quiet part out loud with this film. One of the characters in the trailer points out that the premise of Hoppers is similar to Avatar. Unfortunately for Disney, Hoppers won’t make a quarter of what Avatar did. Still, I do see an improvement from Elemental and Elio. It does look visually more appealing than the bean mouth that Elio had. Hoppers also has the entire month for itself to make money until The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. I could see Hoppers make $200M domestically and $510M worldwide, slightly more than Elemental.

The Dog Stars - It’s a post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and is based on the book of the same name. I could see this film doing slightly better than Napoleon, which should be fine if the film is budgeted properly. I’d say The Dog Stars make $110M domestically and $240M worldwide.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come - It’s a comedy horror film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and is the sequel to Ready or Not. I could see this film doing better than the first Ready or Not, and it could work as counterprogramming to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. I’d say Ready or Not 2: Here I Come make $30M domestically and $70M worldwide.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 - It’s a comedy drama film directed by David Frankel and is the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada. Instead of a Marvel film in early May, Disney decided to release 20th Century Studios’ The Devil Wears Prada 2 to kickstart the summer season. This is going to be big, possibly bigger than Disney’s other May 2026 film. I could see The Devil Wears Prada 2 make $220M domestically and $520M worldwide, possibly being 20th Century Studios’ (after Fox was dropped from the name) biggest hit outside of Avatar. It seems like 20th Century Studios isn’t taking any breaks from October 2025’s Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere to May 2026’s The Devil Wears Prada 2. On average, they’re releasing one film a month. After The Devil Wears Prada 2, 20th Century Studios is going on a five month break.

The Mandalorian and Grogu - It’s a film directed by Jon Favreau and is part of the Star Wars franchise. Had this film released after season two and came out in 2023 instead of season three, you’d have a film that could hit $800M worldwide. But three years after season three, which is considered a step down from the first two seasons, isn’t going to help this film at all. There’s no hatred with this Star Wars project. Just apathy. I think this could make $170M domestically and $400M worldwide. I’d say it does similar numbers to Thunderbolts*. If the budget is about the same, this is going to underperform for Disney. It’s not going to be a disaster like Solo, but it won’t be as huge as Disney thought it would be at the beginning of the film’s development. Star Wars just isn’t the juggernaut franchise it used to be.

Toy Story 5 - It’s a comedy film directed by Andrew Stanton and is the fifth film in the Toy Story franchise. Somehow, Woody returned. This film could make a billion, but I’ll lean towards no for this film. Toy Story 4 is considered to be the weakest film in the franchise, so anyone who wasn’t a fan of the fourth film will sit out with the fifth film. Even then, I could see Toy Story 5 make $400M domestically and $880M worldwide, being the first Toy Story film since Toy Story 2 to not make $1B. This will still be a huge hit for Disney no matter what. Even if Hoppers does terribly, at least Pixar has Toy Story 5 later in 2026.

Moana - It’s a musical adventure film directed by Thomas Kail and is a remake of Moana. The live action Moana is releasing ten years after the first film and only two years after Moana 2. We could possibly get a Moana 3 after the live action Moana. The only reason I could see a live action Moana being made is because the Rock wanted to play the live action version of Maui. Even with the film being live action, it still feels like everything is animated with the exception of the people. And even with all the shit this trailer got since its release, it’ll still do very well. This isn’t a Little Mermaid or Snow White situation where there’s backlash over the actresses playing the princesses. This is a film that’s getting backlash due to coming so soon after the original. I could see Moana make $380M domestically and $800M worldwide. With backlash from this film and Moana 2 getting meh reviews, I don’t see Moana hitting $1B.

Whalefall - It’s a survival thriller film directed by Brian Duffield and is about a scuba diver getting swallowed up by a sperm whale, while trying to find his father’s remains. I could see it doing similar to a film Brian Duffield wrote, Underwater. Both films do take place under the sea and both are about survival. I could see Whalefall make $25M domestically and $60M worldwide. If it doesn’t cost as much as Underwater’s $65M budget and the budget was more like $20M, Whalefall should be okay. I assume most of the film will take place inside the whale, so it should be cheaper than Underwater.

Hexed - It’s a film from Walt Disney Animation Studios directed by Josie Trinidad and David Hand. Based on concept art, it does look interesting and Disney films usually have the Thanksgiving holiday to boost its numbers. Even with this film being an original film, I could see Hexed make $180M domestically and $450M worldwide. If it’s budgeted similar to Zootopia 2’s $150M, this should be a moderate success for Disney at least.

Avengers: Doomsday - It’s a superhero film directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, and is the fifth Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After making Cherry, The Gray Man, and The Electric State, it’s for the best that they went back to Marvel to hopefully save it. Of all the films Disney is having anxiety over this year, it’s with Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel hasn’t been in a good spot recently, with Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* underperforming and The Fantastic Four: First Steps not cracking $600M. Avengers: Doomsday needs to be a huge hit for Disney or the Marvel Cinematic Universe is fucked. I don’t think Disney should expect Endgame or even Infinity War numbers. If it’s on par with the other Avengers films, I could see Avengers: Doomsday make $700M domestically and $1.7B worldwide. This should be a good number for this film, even if it can’t even beat Spider-Man: No Way Home’s $1.9B.

Thoughts on the 2026 Slate - The 2026 lineup is decent. Send Help, Psycho Killer, and The Dog Stars should be moderate successes. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Toy Story 5, Moana, and Avengers: Doomsday should be guaranteed moneymakers. Hoppers, Whalefall, Hexed, and unfortunately The Mandalorian and Grogu feel like wildcards that could go both ways. Heck, Avengers: Doomsday feels like a wildcard in how well it could do, though I think $1B is guaranteed for Avengers: Doomsday. There’s rumors of Avengers: Doomsday being pushed to 2027, but I’m sure Bob Iger and Marvel are doing everything they can to keep the film in 2026 as that’s the only Marvel film scheduled for 2026 (Spider-Man: Brand New Day is Sony) and the only Disney film that could make $1B. I think Toy Story 5 and Moana will miss $1B with the mixed reception to the previous installments.

Future - We’re getting Avatar 4 and 5 unless Avatar: Fire and Ash somehow fails. Ice Age will return to the big screen with Ice Age: Boiling Point. Star Wars: Starfighter is happening. Pixar is making an original film called Gatto. The Simpsons Movie 2 is finally happening after almost 20 years, though releasing the same day as A Minecraft Movie 2 sounds like a bad idea. We’re getting a Bluey movie. Walt Disney Animation Studios plans to make a Frozen III, the first threequel made by the main Disney Animation studio. Avengers: Secret Wars is going to wrap up the Multiverse Saga and possibly lead to a reboot of the MCU.