Disney CEO Bog Iger Dishes on Box Office Woes, Calls Out Pandemic & Promises ‘We’re All Rolling Up Are Sleeves’

Summary

• Disney CEO Bob Iger discusses the company’s woes at the box office.
• The Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded significantly with a wide array of content on Disney+, but new MCU projects face the pressure to live up to the massive success of films like Avengers: Endgame.
• Disney is aware of the need to improve box office productivity and is optimistic about its upcoming slate, which includes a balance of strong sequels and original content. However, there is concern about the projected performance of The Marvels.

The Mouse House’s recent struggles clearly have Disney CEO Bob Iger concerned. But it’s not like Iger and the company has to worry about scrounging for a government bailout. When looking at Disney’s performance in theaters, keep in mind that four of the Top 5 money-making movies of all time are the property of Disney. And that includes No. 1 Avatar’s $2.92 billion. What might come as a surprise to some, though, is that Iger also still blames COVID-19. Iger said during an earnings call on Wednesday, November 8 (per The Hollywood Reporter):

We’re all rolling up our sleeves, including myself.

Iger said during the same earnings call:

“As I looked at our overall output, meaning the studio, it’s clear that the pandemic created a lot of challenges creatively for everybody, including for us. In addition, at the time the pandemic hit, we were leaning into a huge increase in how much we were making, and I’ve always felt that quantity can be actually a negative when it comes to quality. And I think that’s exactly what happened. We lost some focus.”

It’s clear the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is part of Disney, has done a lot of expanding where it relates to creating a wide array of streaming content for Disney+. However, the company still managed to score a major victory before the federal COVID-19 PHE declaration came to an end on May 11, 2023. Avatar: The Way of Water was released domestically on December 16, 2022, and the sequel made $2.32 billion worldwide. That ranks Avatar 2 as the third highest-grossing film of all time.

Related: Why Bob Iger’s Return as Disney CEO Forecasts Major Changes

Bog Iger, The Mouse House Moving Forward

Disney

It’s true that some of Disney’s movie ventures haven’t lived up to expectations in 2023, as the CEO Bob Iger is fully aware of. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny clearly failed to find an audience when it only amassed $384 million worldwide during its theatrical run. But it’s important to remember that recent films like Avatar: The Way of Water, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame set ridiculously high multi-billion-dollar bars for other Disney projects to try and live up to. And the MCU has felt the heat maybe more than any other Disney property because of the enormous success Endgame was. The film made The Mouse House $2.8 billion at the global box office.

In 2023, there were high hopes for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s February release, but the superhero flick only made $476 million total. However, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 fared far better during the summertime as James Gunn’s last film in the MCU made $846 million worldwide — clearly a success. Nevertheless, Disney CEO Bob Iger is adamant about improving the company’s productivity at the box office. Iger said during the same earnings call:

“We’re all rolling up our sleeves, including myself, to do just that. We have obviously great assets, great stories to tell from the assets that we either have or that we purchased. And I feel really optimistic about the slate going forward, which is going to be a balance between some really strong sequels to some very, very popular titles, as well as some good original content, starting with Wish, which comes out Thanksgiving weekend. So, I feel good about the direction we’re headed. But I’m mindful of the fact that our performance from a quality perspective wasn’t really up to the standards that we set for ourselves.”

The Little Mermaid live-action reimagining made $569.6 million worldwide over the summer, which sounds like a win-win for Disney. But it’s important to remember that it cost nearly $300 million to make. Then Iger and company have to take into account the cost of advertising and marketing, which doesn’t figure into the $300-million cost, plus Disney has to share some of the proceeds with movie theaters.

At the time of this writing, Wish is tracking to make approximately $50 million over the five-day holiday weekend. That projection is much stronger than what Encanto ($27.2 million) made domestically during the pandemic over its stint in theaters for Thanksgiving 2021. While Disney and Iger hope their Wish comes true, The Marvels is also opening in cinemas this weekend. But the MCU installment is projected to be a major disappointment.

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