Perhaps those early, low Rotten Tomatoes scores for Wish should have been an indicator that the film was going to struggle to meet its early projcetions?
The film was initially projected to open to a $50 million domestic opening before poor reviews dropped that number to $45 million.
However, the final numbers are in and Wish failed to even cross the $35 million mark. The film will need to have long legs at the box office in order to break even.
Wish opened to $31.7 million domestically and $17.3 million internationally, for a $49 million worldwide debut.
Wish opened in North American theaters just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on November 22. The film has a reported production budget of $200 million.
Wish is believed to make references to several previous Disney Animated classics as part of the celebration of Disney's 100th anniversary. In particular, it's rumored that the film's ending will specifically tie to several beloved classics.
The first ten minutes of the movie were shown to the audience during Wish's special presentation earlier this year at the Destination D23 Event at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Wish was hailed as a must-see movie on social media even though the footage was not released.
WISH Synopsis: In Wish, Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star.
Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.
Featuring the voices of Academy Award-winning actor Ariana DeBose as Asha, Chris Pine as Magnifico, and Alan Tudyk as Asha’s favorite goat, Valentino, the film is helmed by Oscar-winning director Chris Buck (“Frozen,” “Frozen 2”) and Fawn Veerasunthorn (“Raya and the Last Dragon”), produced by Peter Del Vecho (“Frozen,” “Frozen 2”) and co-produced by Juan Pablo Reyes (“Encanto”).
Jennifer Lee (“Frozen,” “Frozen 2”) executive produced and also co-wrote the script alongside Allison Moore (“Night Sky,” “Manhunt”).
With original songs by Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/musician Benjamin Rice, plus a score by composer Dave Metzger.
Wish opens only in theaters on Nov. 22, 2023.