Disney’s live-action remake of Peter Pan and Wendy has the worst Rotten Tomatoes audience score for a live-action remake in the studio’s history.
Whether it’s MCU movies like Thor: Love and Thunder or Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantummania, or films from other divisions the studio is overseeing, scores of audiences for Disney movies have been all over the map in recent years.
Disney struggled with some releases in its prestigious animated category, with 2022’s Strange World (“B” CinemaScore) becoming the first film in Disney animation history to receive an audience score of less than an A- on CinemaScore.
Now, the House of Mouse is back in live action with Peter Pan & Wendy in a new remake of the 1953 classic Peter Pan.
Peter Pan and Wendy sets negative audience score record
Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy, which debuted on Disney+ on April 28, broke the record for the worst audience score in Disney live-action remake studio history.
It received a “Tomatometer” critic score of 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, but an audience score of a disappointing 13%.
This makes Peter Pan and Wendy one of only two live-action Disney remakes with an audience score of less than 45%, the other being 2022’s Pinocchio starring Tom Hanks and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (28%).
A complete list of Disney remakes from the past nine years, along with their Rotten Tomatoes audience scores, can be found below.
- Maleficent (2014): 70%
- Cinderella (2015): 78%
- The Jungle Book (2016): 86%
- Alice in Wonderland (2016): 48%
- Beauty and the Beast (2017): 80%
- Christopher Robin (2018): 82%
- Dumbo (2019): 48%
- Aladdin (2019): 94%
- The Lion King (2019): 88%
- Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019): 95%
- Lady and the Tramp (2019): 50%
- Mulan (2020): 47%
- Cruella (2021): 97%
- Pinocchio (2022): 28%
- Peter Pan & Wendy (2023): 13%
This also comes after the new film hit the review bombshell on its release day. This includes valid criticism of some of the plot/character choices.
Are Disney’s Live-Action Remakes a Problem?
Disney has enjoyed tremendous success in recent years with Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book, Will Smith’s Aladdin, and Emma Stone’s Cruella, but the last few years haven’t been kind to the live-action remake realm.
It’s likely a coincidence that both of these last two movies were meant for Disney+ streaming releases, but it’s still disappointing to see fans’ disappointment with these movies, especially considering Disney’s tendency to slow down with these remakes. There is no plan.
The end of May will see Halle Bailey take on The Little Mermaid, which has already received high praise from early critics following its world premiere, even considering some controversial decisions made from a VFX perspective Has been done
Additionally, Dwayne Johnson has announced plans for a live-action Moana rewrite within the next few years, and Disney also has plans for a Lilo & Stitch adaptation. Both drew complaints from fans for a variety of reasons.
With both films still in the early stages of development and The Little Mermaid already receiving positive reviews, there is hope that the studio can avoid any major disappointments with remakes like Peter Pan & Wendy.