Another Big Budget Disney Movie Flops At The Box Office After Politicized Promo

It's getting to a point where it's worth wondering if The Walt Disney Company is actively trying to make bad movies. 

The once-proud film studio, which had been the envy of the entertainment industry, has been on a remarkable losing streak over the past half-decade. "Lightyear" lost well over $100 million at the box office, after incorporating progressive political messages into a kids movie. "Strange World," another Disney attempt at politics, was an even bigger disaster. "Haunted Mansion" failed. "Wish" was a massive bomb. "The Marvels" was a historic disaster. Their attempt to restart the "Captain America" franchise with Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford failed spectacularly. 

The butchered "Snow White" remake was a gigantic flop. 

RELATED: 'Snow White' Box Office Run Is Almost Over, Cementing All-Time Flop For Disney

It's hard to find a Disney film to turn a profit recently. The most obvious example being the least "woke" of any of their recent releases, "Deadpool vs. Wolverine."

This weekend, they released their latest attempt to turn the studio's direction around: "Tron: Ares." And once again, Disney is set to lose a ton more money on a bad movie promoted by incompetent actors.

HOLLYWOOD - Jared Leto attends the Premiere of Disney's "Tron: Ares" at TCL Chinese Theatre on October 6, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Tron: Ares Disappoints In Opening Weekend

While "Tron: Ares" had a widespread promotional campaign, the film most recently made headlines because of one of its lead actors. Jeff Bridges joined far-left political talk show host Jimmy Kimmel to promote the movie, instead turning it into another opportunity to share his ideology.

"ICE? Let’s get ICE off our streets and into our beverages, man," Bridges said, as Kimmel's audience of clapping seals loudly cheered. "This aggression will not stand. Right? So let’s just abide. Abide together. Yes, we can do this. Now, that’s just, like, my opinion, but it’s a good one, don’t you think, Jimmy?"

Ah, yes, brilliant. Have a washed-up actor give his unpopular political views while promoting a movie with a $180 million budget. 

Unsurprisingly, it didn't work. Given the film's gigantic budget, and the additional cost of marketing, likely another $100-150 million, total production costs likely went past $300 million. The general rule of thumb for Hollywood is that a film needs to gross 2x the budget to break even. What did it open to? 

An estimated $35-37 million. That is an unmitigated disaster. 

It was well below already pessimistic estimates. And it looks even worse when compared to its predecessor, "Tron: Legacy." That film opened to over $44 million in 2010, which is roughly $65.3 million adjusted for inflation. So "Tron: Ares" is going to be roughly half the opening weekend box office of its first movie. 

The international box office might provide some help. And it will obviously be dumped on Disney+ in a matter of weeks, to bring in or retain dozens of subscribers. But make no mistake, this is yet another debacle for Disney studios. 

"Tron: Ares" might not even be a politically-themed movie. But it's associated with a brand, with a company, that may have irreparably damaged its reputation with audiences and consumers. All because, in a futile attempt to appeal to a vanishingly small progressive audience, a family-friendly film studio became a political factory. Now their company is overrun with woke young employees, and no chance of undoing it. Guess we'll find out how much money they're willing to lose to support their party.