In recent months, the world box office has been faced with disappointing figures and resounding flops. Although there are exceptions (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), the truth is that various studies have been affected by the indifference of the public. One of them is Disney, commanded by Bob Iger, whose most recent gambles have turned into flops. Although the study seemed infallible, today it is vulnerable due to the low collections of its tapes. How did they get to that point?
During an interview for CNBC, Iger talked about what has gone wrong at Mickey Mouse’s house. Although the company has offered too much content, perhaps not all projects were necessary. Only so far in 2023, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, The Little Mermaid, Elements and Indiana Jones and the dial of fate they have been, to say the least, disappointing to Disney and its executives.
These were Iger’s words:
“There have been some disappointments. We wish some of our newer content would perform better. It’s not thoughtful as an issue from a staff perspective. But I think that in our quest to grow our content significantly to serve our streaming offerings, we end up hurting our people a lot more. This in terms of time and focus, is way beyond where they had been.”
In recent months, much has been discussed about the future of the MCU. Gone are the days when Marvel movies were guaranteed $1 billion at the box office. Of course, the situation around the world has changed, but it is surprising that some projects are getting closer to failure. For Iger, it’s all due to the sheer volume of content in the franchise.
“Marvel is a great example of this (the growth in content generation). They hadn’t been in the television business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their production of movies, but they ended up doing several TV series and, frankly, they diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, the cause, more than anything else,” he added.
But it’s not just the MCU that has been affected by Disney’s questionable practices. The studio’s animations have suffered terribly since the start of the pandemic. Between simultaneous releases on Disney Plus, movies that don’t make it to theaters, and tremendous flops like Lightyear, A strange world or the recent Items, it becomes clear that they have lost their Midas touch. Again, the ambition to finish the streaming is cited as the main cause of failures.
“There have been three consecutive Pixar releases that went straight to streaming, partly – or most of it – because of COVID. And I think that may have created an expectation in the audience that (the other movies) were going to be streaming, and maybe quickly. There was no urgency. And I also think there were some… I think you should acknowledge that there were some creative flaws as well,” he mentioned.
But if Marvel and the animations don’t perform like they used to, what about Star Wars or other Lucasfilm productions? Unfortunately, the situation is not looking much better. Star Wars He has not returned to theaters since 2019, but his latest films (Han Solo: A Star Wars Story and the rise of skywalker) have already shown a certain decline at the box office. In case of Indiana Jones it’s worse, well the dial of fate is shaping up to be the biggest flop of the year.
As for Disney Plus, the franchise has expanded thanks to numerous series, but the audience levels have not stood out for being huge either. Faced with a complicated future, Iger assures that the company has reached an important decision: significantly reduce the volume of projects it launches, at least in its main franchises.
“You go back not only to focus, but also as part of our cost containment initiative. Spend less on what we do, and do less”, he finished.
Coupled with the current strikes by writers and actors, it is clear that in the coming years we will see fewer movies and series with the characters that the company owns. Although it sounds like a risky proposition, it won’t be for a few years when we will see if the decision was the right one. Do you think that this measure will help improve the situation of Disney?
Juan Jose Cruz I am one of those who always defended Robert Pattinson as Batman and can see the same movie in the theater up to 7 times. My guilty pleasure? Low budget horror movie.