"Strange World," the Disney animated feature film that included what's believed to be the company's first-ever openly gay romance between teenagers, flopped at the box office over Thanksgiving weekend, falling short of $19 million in domestic receipts.
According to Yahoo, "Strange World" produced a five-day total of $18.6 million, easily "among the worst openings for Disney animation in recent memory."
By comparison, Pixar Entertainment's "The Good Dinosaur" — which debuted at $55 million over the same weekend in 2015 — was largely considered a "disappointment," but still had roughly three times the box-office cachet of "Strange World."
With a reported budget of approximately $180 million, "Strange World" fell short of expectations for opening weekend; and the prospects might not improve over successive weeks — even if the international box-office numbers exceed that of domestic.
According to Yahoo, CinemaScore audiences gave "Strange World" a 'B' grade, which ranks as the lowest score of any Disney film from the last 31 years.
Since 1991, ScreenRant.com reports that every film from Walt Disney Animation Studios had received an A- CinemaScore or higher.
The struggles of "Strange World" also come on the heels of "Lightyear" — another Disney animated feature — doing poorly with audiences over the summer.
Back in June, Newsmax covered the initial wave of hype surrounding "Strange World."
Matthieu Saghezchi, a production designer for animation, tweeted about the movie's potential impact then with audiences after a partial screening in France.
"Just saw the very first glimpse into #Disney’s #StrangeWorld at the #Annecy2022 festival — it features the first openly gay teen romance in a disney feature!!! ... #RepresentationMatters," Saghezchi tweeted.
The Disney designer added, via Twitter: "The scene describes the son being very shy in front of his boy crush, and his dad comes in and says 'so nice to meet you! my son talks about you all the time' and further embarrasses his son ... very cute."
"Lightyear," which included a same-sex kiss between two female animated characters, has reportedly been banned in 14 countries.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.