Disney CEO Bob Iger, who has just extended his contract in the role until 2026, has spoken out on the company’s recent box office failures.
Speaking with CNBC’s David Faber at the Sun Valley Conference, the Mouse House boss confessed that the studio has been putting out too much content on Disney+, which he thinks is in part the reason for recent poor box office openings.
Last year, the two biggest box office bombs with a combined loss of almost $300 million each were Disney animated movies Strange World and Lightyear.
The films had followed mainly straight-to-Disney+ releases for Pixar’s Soul, Luca and Turning Red under the now-dismissed Disney CEO Bob Chapek.
Meanwhile, post-Avengers Endgame Marvel has been introducing TV shows to the streaming service that Iger thinks there are too many of. And has resulted in blockbusters like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania failing to cross $500 million worldwide.
Iger said: “There have been some disappointments we would have liked some of our more recent releases to perform better.
“It’s reflective not as a problem from a personnel perspective, but I think in our zeal to basically grow our content significantly to serve mostly our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people way beyond — in terms of their time and their focus — way beyond where they had been.”
He then went on to point the finger at Marvel Studios in particular as one of those to blame, adding: “Marvel’s a great example of that. They had not been in the TV business at any significant level.
“Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, more of the cause than anything.”
Announcing cuts to Marvel and Star Wars content, Iger said: “You pull back not just to focus, but also as part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make, and making less.”
Disney has also suffered Pixar’s worst opening in 28 years with Elemental, although the film has proven to have legs and become the most successful film for the animation studios at the corporation since 2019’s Frozen II.
Meanwhile, the $300 million+ Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny still hasn’t made its budget back meaning it’s likely to be a huge box office bomb for Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm.
Iger added: “Marvel’s a great example of that. They had not been in the TV business at any significant level.
“Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, more of the cause than anything.”
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