Disney announces rare $170 million financial loss after X-Men: Dark Phoenix flop

The maligned superhero movie is likely to impact the future of 20th Century Fox projects made under Disney

The disastrous box office gross for X-Men: Dark Phoenix led Disney to a rare quarterly financial loss this year.

In an earnings report published by Disney this week, the corporation declared that its revenue and profits grew in the third quarter of 2019 thanks to hits like Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel, but “these improvements were partially offset” by a $170m loss “driven by the performance of Dark Phoenix, for which we also recorded a film cost impairment.”

Dark Phoenix, which is expected to be the final entry in the long-running X-Men franchise, reportedly cost $200m to produce before marketing and promotion. It only grossed $252m worldwide upon its release in June, following months of bad buzz and a number of release date changes.

Hollywood Reporter has claimed that the report will now lead Disney to continue to pare down 20th Century Fox, the studio behind X-Men, which Disney absorbed earlier this year. In recent months it has dumped Fox projects that were previously in development and delayed existing Fox projects including the Amy Adams thriller The Woman in the Window.

Sources told the industry paper that Fox could make 10 or more movies a year from 2020, with half or more headed directly to the new streaming service Disney+.