Disney's Wish Digital Release Date Revealed After Disappointing Box Office

After a disappointing run in theaters, the digital and physical media release dates for Disney’s Wish have now been revealed, and one isn’t far off.

Summary

• Wish will become available for purchase on digital platforms starting Tuesday, January 23.
• The film's 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD release is set for Tuesday, March 12.
• Wish underperformed at the box office due to poor reviews and audiences waiting for animated Disney movies to go to streaming.

Disney's Wish now has digital and Blu-ray release dates after its disappointing run at the box office. Directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, the latest animated Disney release follows a teen named Asha who accidentally summons a trouble-making wishing star down from the sky. Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, and Alan Tudyk lead the Wish voice cast, with the film generally poor reviews and marking another disappointment for Disney on the financial front.

Now, Disney (via Collider) reveals that Wish is set to release on all major VOD platforms on Tuesday, January 23. This VOD release will then be followed by a 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD release on Tuesday, March 12. Both the digital and physical media home releases will include a variety of bonus featuers, including a sing-along version of the movie.

Why Disney's Wish Underwhelmed In Theaters

It's More Than Just Poor Reviews

While the initial buzz out of screenings seemed to be positive, the Wish critics' reviews ended up being mixed, to say the least. The film was heralded as a more classical Disney animated movie as the company celebrated its 100th anniversary, but reviews took issue with the film relying too heavily on nostalgia and not offering up any radically new ideas or themes. The voice performances and animation style, however, were frequently cited as high points.

Wish's Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 81% (as compared to the poor critics' score of 48%) would suggest that general movie-goers tended to enjoy the film, but this evidently didn't translate to box office performance. Made on a budget of $200 million, Wish's box office tapped out at around $209.8 million worldwide, meaning the film almost certainly didn't break even after factoring in marketing costs.

Wish's poor box office follows Strange World bombing in 2022 and Elemental's disappointing opening last year, though the latter film would eventually become a moderate success over time with $496.4 million earned worldwide.

The poor reviews and the quality of the film itself definitely played a role in Wish's underperformance, but the string of recent disappointments for animated Disney movies suggests that other factors are also at play. One of the biggest reasons why certain animated ventures have fallen flat at the box office is because Disney's straight-to-streaming release strategy used during the height of the pandemic trained audiences to just wait to watch these movies on Disney Plus. A Disney Plus release date for Wish has not yet been announced.

Source: Disney (via Collider)

Wish

Wish is a Disney animated adventure/fantasy comedy that follows Asha, a young girl from the kingdom of Rosas who wants nothing more than to care for the people of her home. One night, Rosa takes a chance to wish upon a star - only to invite a bit of chaos when her prayers are somewhat answered by an energetic cosmic entity known as Star. Together with her goat and this new friend, they'll set off to save the kingdom from an ambitious king.

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