How Disney's CEO Feels About The Mandalorian & Grogu And Moana Flopping At The Box Office

Disney has had some massive success stories this year, with "Toy Story 5" ranking as one of the biggest hits of 2026. But the House of Mouse has also had some massive misfires. This includes the latest "Star Wars" adventure "The Mandalorian and Grogu" and the live-action "Moana," which flopped at the box office in July in spectacular fashion. So, how does Disney's CEO feel about these flops?

In Disney's recent quarter three earnings call, CEO Josh D'Amaro, who replaced Bob Iger earlier this year, addressed the failures of both of these massive franchise titles. While he admitted that they didn't meet expectations at the box office, he did have a positive spin on the situation:

"Even when our franchise films don't meet our box office expectations, as with the 'Mandalorian and Grogu' and the live-action 'Moana,' our investments in these core properties fuel other parts of our company. 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' drove healthy growth in retail sales for the 'Star Wars' franchise and drew guests to the updated Millennium Falcon attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and led to significant engagement in gaming as well. And the live-action 'Moana' is expected to be a strong title on Disney+, building on the success of the original film, which is one of the most-streamed movies of all time."

Director Jon Favreau's "The Mandalorian and Grogu" set an unwanted box office record for "Star Wars," becoming the lowest-grossing, live-action entry in the franchise to date with just $345 million worldwide. As for director Thomas Kail's "Moana," it's still in theaters but against a hulking $250 million budget, it's made just $263 million to date and is fading fast. Neither are even close to the result Disney had been hoping for.

In the letter to investors, Disney had a similar take as Josh D'Amaro saying, "These franchise investments contributed to value creation beyond their theatrical releases." For what it's worth, I did argue that "The Mandalorian and Grogu" was a win for "Star Wars" at the box office after its opening weekend, before I knew how hard it was going to drop. Though my reasoning wasn't dissimilar to D'Amaro's.

As for "Moana," that's a tougher pill to swallow. For one, it had a much bigger budget, as "Mando" cost $165 million. It also came after "Moana 2," which was one of Hollywood's biggest box office hits of 2024 with $1 billion to its name. Despite that, Disney CFO Hugh Johnston had his own positive spin on the situation, saying the following:

"Theatrical performance is important to us, of course, and we certainly aspire to deliver consistent financial results for our films. But the nature of the film industry is such that it is more of a portfolio game. The good news for us is our diversified business helps us basically cover the volatility that comes out of the the film business...the theatrical window in a lot of ways is just one data point, and the real value of that IP is the cumulative benefit of decades-long storytelling and our ability to take that IP and lay it into the entirety of the Disney flywheel."

In both cases, there is upside beyond the box office. Disney probably sold a s*** load of Baby Yoda toys. "Moana" is destined to be streaming a lot on Disney+. The question is, can that post-theatrical upside truly offset the steep theatrical losses?

In the case of smaller movies, it's certainly easier to have post-theatrical revenue streams make up for shortcomings at the box office. When it comes to big-budget blockbusters that are within pillar franchises for Disney, that math gets more complicated.

With "The Mandalorian and Grogu," the reception was mixed but it was also a lower-stakes affair, bringing a beloved TV show to the big screen. Its biggest sin was having to be the first "Star Wars" movie to hit theaters in seven years after "The Rise of Skywalker," which was the most complicated $1 billion box office hit in history. It's not terribly hard to believe that after merch sales, streaming, parks revenue, etc, this could be a net-positive, on paper, in the end.

With "Moana," there's a much bigger financial gap that needs to be closed. There's also less direct upside in terms of merchandise for this specific movie, as well as less specific theme park draw. Yes, it's going to do numbers on Disney+, but enough to make up for its theatrical losses? That's harder to wrap one's head around.

Either way, in both cases, Disney has some tough lessons to learn. Disney made $7 billion from live-action remakes between 2010 and 2019. These remakes can still be fruitful, but there are clearly limitations. "Star Wars" is also no longer automatically at the forefront of pop culture. Disney and Lucasfilm need to find a more reliable future for the franchise. Is that going to be next year's "Star Wars: Starfighter" starring Ryan Gosling? Maybe. Either way, that's a big puzzle that still needs solving.