Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger suggests making films and TV shows for rivals.
During the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the company is considering producing films and television shows for its competitors, shifting its focus from the Disney+ streaming service.
In recent years, Disney has been rapidly releasing new content from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) on its streaming service, Disney+. This includes introducing new characters and exploring legacy characters more deeply between theatrical releases.
However, this fast pace has put pressure on visual effects teams to create stunning visual effects from green screen action sequences. Some have criticized the underwhelming superpower effects and slapdash CGI backgrounds that appear muddled.
To address these issues, Marvel has started to slow down its release schedule. After “Quantumania” in February, the studio has delayed “The Marvels” until November. The release of new Marvel series on Disney+ has been spaced out.
While “Secret Invasion” and season 2 of “Loki” are next on the list, Disney has not yet provided release dates. Nonetheless, Bob Iger, Disney’s Chief Executive, states that there are still many more stories to tell in the MCU.
Iger believes that following a more curated approach, similar to HBO, by creating fewer high-quality shows centered around its major brands will help increase profits for Disney+.
He also discussed the possibility of licensing content to third parties, citing the success of Seth MacFarlane’s “Family Guy” on both Disney-owned Hulu and Roku.
Iger’s return to Disney in November 2022 was aimed at improving investor confidence and profits in its streaming media unit. As part of its restructuring efforts, Disney announced it would be eliminating 7,000 jobs to save $5.5 billion in costs and return creative control to the company’s executives.
The restructuring plan was well-received by activist investor Nelson Peltz, who abandoned his pursuit of a board seat, citing satisfaction with Iger’s efforts.