“We lost some focus.” – The Hollywood Reporter
For years, Disney has dominated the global box office, breaking industry records after industry records. Now the company’s film empire is under pressure to recover from a difficult series.
Disney Chairman Bob Iger didn’t mince his words when asked about the losing streak during an earnings call on Wednesday, though he first had to remind investors that it wasn’t all bad news, noting that four of last year’s top 10 films… Came from the company, incl Avatar: Water Road.
“However, when I looked at our overall production, that is, the studio, it is clear that the pandemic has created a lot of creative challenges for everyone, including for us,” the media mogul said. “Plus, at the time of the pandemic, we tended to go overboard with the volume of what we make, and I’ve always felt that quantity can actually be a negative when it comes to quality. And I think that’s exactly what happened. We lost some focus.”
Iger was apparently criticizing his short-lived predecessor, Bob Chapek, for the increased production of content across television and films. Historically, including most of the time Iger was CEO, the company’s film production operation has released far fewer titles than its competitors.
Meanwhile, Disney’s box office performance is sure to be in the spotlight again this weekend Wonders Hits the big screen. If tracking holds true, this superhero picture could mark one of the worst openings ever for Marvel Studios.
Eger – who was not mentioned Wonders – He said that the task now is to focus on quality, not quantity. He appears to have criticized his short-lived predecessor, Bob Chapek, for ramping up content production.
“We’re all rolling up our sleeves, myself included, to do this. We obviously have great assets, great stories to tell from the assets that we have or that we’ve purchased. And I feel really optimistic about the slate going forward, which will be a balance between some strong sequels.” Really some very popular titles, as well as some good original content starting with he wishes“Which comes Thanksgiving weekend,” he continued. “So I feel good about the direction we’re going in. But I’m conscious of the fact that our performance from a quality perspective has actually not been up to the standards we set for ourselves.
Disney’s recent notable missteps include Indiana Jones and the Connection of Destiny And The mansion is haunted. Its animation studios faced a tough time in the pandemic era when many Pixar titles were sent straight to streaming in a move critics say encouraged families to stay home, versus making a trip to the movies.