Disney CEO Admits To Quietly Killing Movies

At a conference in San Francisco this week, Iger was put on the spot about what he’s doing to turn his film business around. He admitted, “You have to kill things you no longer believe in.” He said Disney hadn’t been public about that up to this point. Iger also said he’s been spending a lot of time with the creators, watching films, and giving notes, which should end in improvement.

Disney has had some failures at the box office as of late. 2023’s Haunted Mansion, a film adaptation of the iconic and popular Walt Disney theme park attraction, didn’t fare well at the box office. It had a massive budget of $150 million and didn’t make it back, bringing in $117.5 million when all was said and done.

2022’s Lightyear put one of the most popular and well-known animated characters on center stage: Buzz Lightyear. The Toy Story films have grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide, but that didn’t seem to help. The Disney film underperformed at the box office, making $226.4 worldwide against a $200 million production budget. It lost the studio an estimated $106 million.

That same year Strange World was released, and even the voice of Jake Gyllenhaal couldn’t help. It made $73.6 million, but the budget was about $135 million.

These misfires are being used as ammo by activist shareholders – Nelson Peltz’s Trian and Blackwells Capital – each seeking seats on the Disney board. Iger said this campaign is an effort to distract him and his team and to try and take their eyes off the ball.

Trying to look past the drama, Iger focused on Disney’s 2024 film slate, which includes Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes which comes out May 10. There are also the highly anticipated sequels to Inside Out and Moana. Those films are two of the highest-grossing Disney animated movies of all time.

2024 Disney bragging rights also include the big Marvel release of the year, Deadpool & Wolverine, out July 26. Real-life best buds Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) star together. Iger predicts it will be “one of the more successful Marvel movies we’ve had in a long time.”

It is needed for sure. Disney’s 2023 film, The Marvels, was panned by critics and drew in just $47 million domestically in its opening weekend … the worst performance in Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise history. Iger dismissed the idea of there being superhero or franchise fatigue, pointing out the fact that Marvel’s first 33 films generated just under $30 billion at the box office.

In addition to killing some Disney film projects, as part of the overhaul, last month Disney’s Sean Bailey left as president of Motion Picture Studios after 15 years and Searchlight co-president David Greenbaum found his way in as president of Disney Live Action and president of 20th Century Studios.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter