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The most glaring example is Disney's Soul, a culturally significant animated film featuring a Black protagonist. The film was released on Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend into approximately 1,350 theaters, yet it managed to gross an abysmal $557,000 over the four-day holiday—a figure that critics and industry analysts find utterly embarrassing.
This performance is particularly disheartening because Soul had already been released on Disney+ years prior and was not expected to generate blockbuster revenue. Yet Disney aimed to push it into theaters, perhaps hoping to leverage its critical acclaim and cultural relevance. Instead, it became a symbol of the company's failed gambit—showing how far Disney's brand has fallen in the eyes of the public.