Bob Iger has said Disney has shelved a number of films as the CEO attempts to revive the quality of theatrical output on the back of a relatively disappointing 2023 for the studio.
On stage at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom conference in San Francisco, Iger talked about what he was doing to course-correct.
“You have to kill things you no longer believe in,” he said, ”and that’s not easy because either you’ve gotten started, you have some sunk costs, or it’s a relationship with either your employees or with the creative community.”
Iger did not identify the projects and continued, ”You’ve got to make those tough calls. We’ve actually made those tough calls. We’ve not been that public about it, but we’ve killed a few projects already, that we just didn’t feel were strong enough.”
The executive is known for his strong talent relationships in Hollywood and said he has been spending time with filmmakers giving notes, and watches films multiple times before release to ensure the studio maintains its standard of excellence.
Last week Disney announced Sean Bailey was departing as president of the motion picture studios and was being replaced by former Searchlight Pictures co-president David Greenbaum as Iger attempts to shuffle his executive pack and reboot the film studio.
After The Marvels grossed a little over $200m worldwide last year – down by 81% on the $1.1bn box office of 2019 original Captain Marvel – and Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania disappointed on $476m worldwide, Iger disputed the notion of audience fatigue with superhero and franchise films.
Good films, he said, draw people to the cinema and cited Oscar frontrunner Oppenheimer from Universal as an example.
Iger noted it was no accident that the first 33 films from Marvel Studios produced close to $30bn at the global box office. The pipeline from Marvel Studios has been slimmed down and he said was feeling good about the team. The studio’s sole superhero release this year is the anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine, scheduled to open on July 26 in the US and UK.
The Disney CEO touted this year’s theatrical highlights, which include Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes on May 10 in the US, Inside Out 2 on June 14, Moana 2 on November 27, and Mufasa: The Lion King on December 20.
Iger also referenced the ongoing proxy fight with activist investors Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners and Blackwells Capital and said he was trying not to let the matter distract him.
“I am working really hard to not let this distract me because when I get distracted, everybody who works for me gets distracted and that’s not a good thing,” he said.
The activist investors are vying for seats on the board and have issued a white paper on Disney’s corporate governance calling for cuts, urgent action on the linear TV business, and the need to combine Disney+ and Hulu.
The matter of seats on the board will be determined at Disney’s annual general meeting on April 3.
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