By Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed at a Morgan Stanley conference in San Francisco today that his studio quietly has killed a few projects lately because they weren’t deemed strong enough.
Talking about the current state of Disney’s output and box office returns, and the strike-induced box office drought that has been impacting the overall box-office, he says Disney has recently hit on hard times that needed addressing.
As a result, the studio is trying various approaches to get things back on track:
“We’re doing a lot. When we talk about improving our film, slate, there are really three approaches. One is you have to kill things you no longer believe [in]. And that’s not easy in this business.
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.
It’s not an easy thing, but you 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.”
He says the studio is spending a lot of time with the creators, watching the films, offering detailed notes and “engaging in a respectful process that results in improvement.”
He also touched upon some touched upon the idea of superhero and franchise fatigue, saying:
“A lot of people think it’s audience fatigue, it’s not audience fatigue. They want great films. And if you build it great, they will come, and there are countless examples of that.
Some are ours, and some are others. Oppenheimer is a perfect example of that. Just a fantastic film. Focus is really important.
We reduced the output of Marvel, both the number of films they make, and the number of TV shows, and that really becomes critical, but I feel good about the team.
I feel good about the IP we’re making. I talked about a lot of the projects. We look years ahead, really. And it’s iterative.
Not only do you look at the films you’re making, you look at every part of that process, who the directors are, who’s being cast, reading scripts, I personally watch films three to five times with the team and just create a culture of excellence and respect which is really important with the creative community. And again, the track record speaks for itself.”
He calls the upcoming “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” one of the better of the franchise and believes “Deadpool and Wolverine” will be “one of the more successful Marvel movies we’ve had in a long time”.
Source: THR
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