At a time when there is much talk about the existence of “superhero fatigue”, following the disappointing box office results of several films, the executive president of Disney confirmed that the studio will reduce the number of Marvel films and series in the coming years. years.
Quoted by Deadline during the presentation to analysts this Tuesday of the results for the second quarter of the financial year (January to March), Bog Iger said that the company will limit itself to “two good films” per year — three at most — in relation to about four of the last few years.
As for series for Disney+, the strategy involves cutting from four to two per year, describing production until recently as ‘basically a vestige of a desire in the past to increase quantity.’ We were born from a past desire to increase quantity. Little by little we will reduce it.”
Iger added that he is “working hard with the studio to reduce production and focus more on quality”, showing confidence in how this process is going.
In more general terms, he highlighted that Disney’s intention is to balance sequels with original films, but argued that “there is a lot of value in sequels”, noting that they have more recognition and need less investment in marketing.
“We went through a period where our original animated films were dominant. Now we are stepping back a little to rely on sequels”, he noted, highlighting the release this summer of “Inside Out 2” and plans for the fifth “Toy Story”.
Disney profits fall in the quarter, but business increases
Bob Iger
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Disney’s profits were greatly reduced in the second quarter of the financial year due to devaluations, but its turnover increased, according to the press release.
For the first time, the group’s streaming activities generated a profit, after several years of successive losses and huge investments.
The group’s net profit fell to $216 million (200.54 million euros) compared to $1.5 billion in the same period in 2023.
This difference is mainly due to a devaluation of assets, linked to Disney’s decision to merge its Indian television subsidiary with its competitor Viacom18, dependent on the Reliance conglomerate.
The California-based group controls just 36.8% of this new entity. This operation led it to incur a significant exceptional amount of two billion dollars (1.86 billion euros).
Per share and excluding exceptional elements, the market’s benchmark indicator, net profit was $1.21, above the $1.12 expected by analysts.
Based on these quarterly results, Disney now expects annual growth of 25% in its earnings per share, excluding exceptional items, compared to the 20% achieved so far.
But the highlight of the report is the change in results with a positive trend in streaming or online transmission, which reached this status for the first time since the launch of the Disney+ platform in November 2019.
However, Bob Iger warned that this segment would return to losses during the current quarter, before returning to profitability in the following three months.
