Disney Hits Unwanted Hat Trick As 'Pete's Dragon' Becomes Studio's Third Straight Live-Action Flop

For much of 2015, the house of Mouse could do no wrong at the box office and that success continued into 2016. "Zooptopia," "The Jungle Book," "Captain America: Civil War" continued to dominate at the box office.

Like all good things, that streak eventually did end with "Alice Through The Looking Glass." While "Finding Dory" re-ignited that spark, "The BFG" snuffed it out again. As a result, expectations were higher for "Pete's Dragon," but with a disappointing $21 million debut, Walt Disney Co's (NYSE: DIS) investors likely won't be too happy.

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While the studio has had amazing success this year and still has "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" on deck for December, "Pete" becomes the third-straight Disney live action film to flop. If you go further back, you can also include "The Finest Hours" in the mix as the January release starring Chris Pine sunk like a stone.

With the highly anticipated "Beauty and the Beast" being the next big film to get the live-action update treatment, investors should rest assured the trend will likely course-correct, but that doesn't mean they have to like the road that got them there.