In what has become a troubling pattern for Disney in 2025, the studio’s latest release, Freakier Friday, has debuted to underwhelming box office results, adding to a string of films that have failed to live up to expectations.
The sequel to the 2003 body-swap comedy, featuring returning stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, opened with $28.6 million domestically over the August 8-10 weekend, falling short of higher-end projections that ranged from $35 million to $45 million.
A screenshot from the trailer for Freakier Friday – YouTube, Disney
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While outlets like Variety and Deadline—often perceived as more lenient toward Disney—forecasted a more modest $27 million to $30 million, the actual performance still highlights the studio’s ongoing challenges in recapturing audience enthusiasm amid Hollywood fatigue, remake skepticism, and shifting market dynamics.
Globally, the film added $15.9 million from international markets for a worldwide total of $44.5 million, just scraping by its $45 million production budget in its opening frame without accounting for the film’s robust marketing rollout.
A screenshot from the trailer for Freakier Friday – YouTube, Disney
This modest bow, despite positive audience feedback including an A CinemaScore, is a clear showcase of Disney’s broader struggles this year, where even nostalgic revivals can’t guarantee success.
Freakier Friday’s Disappointing Debut: Falling Short of the Hype
Box office expectations for Freakier Friday were buoyed by early tracking suggesting a domestic opening as high as $45 million to $50 million, driven by millennial nostalgia and Lohan’s career resurgence after past controversies.
A screenshot from the trailer for Freakier Friday – YouTube, Disney
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However, as release approached, forecasts diverged, with Boxoffice Pro holding onto an optimistic $35 million to $45 million range while emphasizing the film’s family-friendly appeal. The reality proved closer to the lower estimates from Variety and Deadline, but the shortfall from higher projections has been labeled a gross underperformance by analysts, particularly given the film’s competition from Warner Bros.’ horror hit Weapons, which exploded to $42.5 million domestically and $70 million globally.
Weapons, a horror film designed for older audiences put out by Warner Bros., shouldn’t have had a hefty impact on Freakier Friday, given the latter’s appeal to families and kids.
A screenshot from the trailer for Freakier Friday – YouTube, Disney
Variety described the debut as “strong” for the genre, and Deadline called it respectable relative to the budget, but the gap between hype and reality paints a picture of yet another Disney misfire in a year plagued by them.
Echoing Elio: Pixar’s Animated Flop Sets a Low Bar
Freakier Friday’s underachievement mirrors the fate of Pixar’s Elio, which crashed into theaters on June 13, 2025, with the studio’s worst-ever domestic opening of $21 million against projections of $27 million to $35 million.
Elio in the trailer for the Pixar movie Elio – YouTube, Pixar
The sci-fi adventure about a boy mistaken for Earth’s ambassador to aliens added just $14 million internationally for a global debut of $35 million, far below expectations for a Pixar original. By August 2025, as the film heads to VOD, its worldwide total has limped to $148 million against a budget estimated as high as $300 million, marking it as one of Pixar’s biggest financial disappointments.
Despite some positive reviews, Elio couldn’t overcome at the box office.
Fantastic Four’s Rapid Plunge: A Superhero Saga in Freefall
Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, released July 25, 2025, started with promise, opening to $117.6 million domestically—including the highest Thursday previews of the year at $24.4 million—but has since plummeted week by week.
The second weekend saw a steep 66% drop to $40 million, pushing the domestic cumulative to around $198 million by early August. Week three brought another punishing decline, with estimates at $15.5 million, reflecting a 61% drop and signaling audience burnout.
The cast of Fantastic Four: First Steps – YouTube, Marvel Entertainment
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As of August 12th, the film’s worldwide haul stands at $435 million against a budget exceeding $250 million, making it the highest-grossing MCU entry of 2025 but still underwhelming compared to the franchise’s billion-dollar past.
Experts have called the drops a bad omen for Marvel, echoing Freakier Friday’s shortfall in sustaining initial buzz amid broader Hollywood fatigue.
Thunderbolts: A Team-Up That Fizzled Out
May’s Thunderbolts opened to $74.3 million domestically, aligning with modest projections of $70 million to $75 million, but quickly faded with a 56% second-weekend drop to $32 million to $33 million. By the end of its run, the film tallied $190.3 million domestically and $192.2 million internationally for a global total of $382.4 million against a $280 million budget.
The Thunderbolts uniting in Marvel’s Thunderbolts – YouTube, Marvel Entertainment
This result cemented Thunderbolts as a clear loss and the second-worst MCU performer ever, surpassing only The Marvels. Positive reviews couldn’t save it from quick audience disinterest, much like Freakier Friday’s uninspiring start.
Captain America: Brave New World – An Anti-Patriotic Underachiever
Kicking off the year on February 14, 2025, Captain America: Brave New World debuted to $88.5 million to $100 million over the Presidents’ Day holiday, outperforming some MCU lows like Eternals but trailing franchise highs.
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America in Marvel Studios‘ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2024 MARVEL.
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It held the top spot for three weekends but suffered a 68% drop to $28 million in week two and further declines, ending with $415.1 million worldwide on a $275 million budget (many claim the budget is even higher given a number of costly reshoots).
The failure of Captain America: Brave New World came after star Anthony Mackie said in an interview that Captain America shouldn’t represent the United States. This was perceived as anti-patriotic and seemed to turn off many potential fans.
Snow White: Amid Controversies, a Live-Action Letdown
Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White, released on March 21, 2025, became one of the studio’s most high-profile disappointments of the year, plagued by pre-release controversies and failing to ignite at the box office.
The film, starring Rachel Zegler as the titular princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, opened to a sleepy $42.2 million domestically, falling short of projections that ranged from $45 million to $55 million in early tracking.
Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Snow White (2025), Walt Disney Studios
While it earned $3.5 million in Thursday previews—higher than some comparable remakes like Dumbo—the weekend haul was deemed underwhelming, especially given the film’s massive $240 million to $270 million production budget, making it one of Disney’s costliest endeavors.
Internationally, it added about $55 million in its debut, for a global opening of around $97 million, but momentum quickly faded amid mixed reviews and backlash over changes to the classic story, including Zegler’s comments on modernizing the fairy tale.
Dopey in the Live Action Snow White movie – YouTube, Disney
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By August 2025, Snow White had wrapped its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of approximately $205 million to $225 million, comprising $87.2 million domestic and the rest from overseas markets. This total represents a colossal failure, with analysts estimating losses exceeding $100 million after marketing costs, echoing the fate of other controversy-laden projects.
The Bigger Picture: Disney’s Challenging Year Ahead
Disney’s 2025 has seen bright spots, like the live-action Lilo & Stitch crossing $1 billion globally—the first Hollywood film to do so this year—but these are overshadowed by a series of flops, including live-action remakes like Snow White and the other aforementioned underperformers.
A screenshot from the trailer for Freakier Friday – YouTube, Disney
The studio has crossed $2 billion worldwide, but with Marvel entries averaging below $400 million and Pixar hitting record lows, analysts point to audience fatigue with remakes, superheroes, and originals alike. Perhaps its simply Disney fatigue at this point…
As competition from Warner Bros. intensifies, Disney must recalibrate to avoid more freakish disappointments in the months ahead.
How do you feel about Freakier Friday underperforming at the box office? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
Seriously, who asked for a sequel to Freaky Friday?
Nobody cares about Disney productions anymore. They’ve poisoned the well of customer goodwill at every turn for the past five years. Kids do, but kids don’t have the money to see films alone or the interest in a sequel to Freaky Friday, given it was released in ’03. This is how desperate Mouse House is creatively.
Disney has a lot of work to do in order to win back an audience. They’ve done nothing but disrespect their once fanatical audience pushing out deconstructions of beloved characters and IPs or veering so far off source material they’ve driven the movie or TV shows off a cliff.
The funny part is: this isn’t rocket surgery. Give the people what they want and they’ll give you the money. Disney seems to think they can TELL people what they want when it is actually the opposite, and their refusal to listen to what the people are telling Disney – shouting at them – is directly to blame for the mess Disney is in.
I, for one, have learned not to partake of paying for Disney content. Until I can see they’ve abandoned their current “we tell you what you should think and desire” mindset across every division, I’m done.
Another Disney feminist slop movie.