Disney Cancels French Release of Ella McKay After Disastrous Box Office Debut

by

While one studio is predicted to lead box office earnings in 2025 – uniquely boasting two films that grossed over a billion dollars – it’s also experienced several significant failures. Notably, their recent film, Ella McKay, has been a particularly poor performer.

Disney is having a mixed year at the box office. While Zootopia 2 is currently their biggest hit, Ella McKay is performing very poorly. After a disappointing opening, Disney has now canceled the film’s release in France, according to World of Reel.

The report doesn’t explain Disney’s decision to postpone the French release of the film, which was originally scheduled for January 7, 2026.

Ella McKay marked a return for acclaimed director James L. Brooks, who hadn’t released a film in 15 years. Brooks is famous for his work on The Simpsons, and earlier successes like Terms of Endearment (1993), for which he won awards for directing, writing, and producing, and As Good as It Gets (1997). His previous movie, the 2010 romance How Do You Know, wasn’t well-received, earning only 32% positive reviews from critics and 25% from audiences.

The film Ella McKay boasts an impressive cast, including Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Spike Fearn, Julie Kavner, Rebecca Hall, Albert Brooks, and Woody Harrelson.

Ella McKay experienced a disastrous debut in theaters, marking the worst opening weekend of director Brooks’ career and one of the lowest wide-release openings in Hollywood history. Despite a $35 million production budget, the comedy only earned $2.2 million from 2,500 theaters. The film performed even worse in its second week, plummeting 75% to just $480,000. Critics weren’t impressed either, giving it a dismal 24% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences offered a slightly better, but still low, score of 54%.

The movie needs to earn about $87 million to cover its costs, but it’s unlikely to reach that goal. Box Office Mojo reports that Ella McCay experienced one of the biggest drops in viewership between its opening and second weekends, ranking 38th out of the top 200 films with such declines. This year, another film had the biggest drop, losing 91.7% of its audience in its second weekend.

Disney Had a Series of Unwanted Flops in 2025

While Ella McKay wasn’t a big hit for Disney, it wasn’t the only 2025 film that underperformed. Disney was the first studio that year to reach $5 billion in total earnings, but they experienced several box office failures along the way.

The recent live-action adaptation faced significant criticism and proved to be a financial loss for Disney. With a production budget of $270 million, the film only earned $205.6 million, failing to recoup its costs.

Subscribe to our newsletter for deeper box-office insights

Subscribe to our newsletter for deeper box-office insights

Looking back on the year in film, a few titles really didn’t hit the mark. While they weren’t terrible, several Marvel movies like Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts just felt…underdeveloped, like they left potential on the table. Pixar’s Elio particularly struggled, becoming their lowest-grossing wide release. We also saw disappointing numbers from Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere – a $45 million take on a $55 million budget isn’t ideal. And finally, even with stars like Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, The Roses just didn’t quite connect with audiences.

Disney has tried for years to revive the Tron franchise, but the recent, expensive sequel only earned $142.2 million at the box office, falling short of its $180 million production cost.

Ella McCay is playing in theaters.

Read More

2025-12-23 19:41