The Surprising Record Disney's Encanto Just Broke
Last year, Disney released "Encanto" to rave reviews from critics and audiences alike (via Rotten Tomatoes). Though the film was certainly a critical triumph, its box office accomplishments left quite a bit to be desired, unfortunately (via Box Office Mojo). Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the animated film opened on Thanksgiving weekend with a disappointing $27 million domestic pull. Globally, the movie has earned a total of $228 million, about $39 million less than "Sing 2," another animated musical released towards the end of 2021 (via Box Office Mojo).
After a 30-day theatrical window, the House of Mouse made the film available to Disney+ subscribers. While some may have seen the decision to jump to streaming as a wave of the proverbial white flag, this move actually proved quite successful for the film (via Business Insider).
Of course, because of its heavy focus on music, Disney executives were also hopeful that "Encanto" could perform well on a very different metric: the Billboard charts. According to a recent chart, one particular song on the film's soundtrack is performing even better than expected.
We Don't Talk About Bruno earned Disney a spot in Billboard's Hot 100
According to Variety, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is the first Disney song in nearly three decades to reach the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 list. The last Disney song to do the same was "A Whole New World" from 1992's "Aladdin" (via Billboard).
"We Don't Talk About Bruno," which was penned by "Hamilton" scribe Lin-Manuel Miranda, tells the story of Bruno Madrigal (John Leguizamo) and the difficult circumstances which ultimately lead his loving family members to stop mentioning him. In the film, Bruno has the power to see the future, but his amazing ability comes at a cost. Whenever Bruno predicts something bad, he is blamed for the negative results.
The song features the vocals of eight different cast members, including: Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz, Sarah-Nicole Robles, Juan Castano and Olga Merediz (via Discogs). Each main character in the song has their own distinct musical style, broadening the appeal of the piece and telling audiences something special about each person (via Far Out Magazine).
"Encanto" is available for streaming on Disney+ and the popular soundtrack (including "We Don't Talk About Bruno") is available on most music streaming platforms.