Bob Iger Admits Disney is ‘Quietly Killing’ Some of Its Films

Speaking today at a conference hosted by Morgan Stanley in San Francisco, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger covered a range of topics, but his most interesting admission had to do with the state of Walt Disney Studios and its recent string of flops at the box office.

Iger admitted that some of the studio’s recent films have not been great, including several flops from Marvel Studios. He said that he doesn’t think that audiences have superhero fatigue; instead, audiences are more likely to show up at the theater if you give them a great film, which Marvel Studios hasn’t done recently. 

However, the most telling revelation from the Disney CEO is that the studio is “killing” films and television series that they no longer believe in.

Iger said:

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.

One of the films that Disney “killed” off was the Austin Butler/Tom Hardy film, The Bikeriders. The film was initially scheduled to be released in movie theaters on December 1, 2023, by 20th Century Studios but was pushed back due to the actor’s strike. When the strike ended, Disney decided to pass on the film, and Universal Pictures picked it up.

After Marvel actor Jonathan Majors was convicted of domestic violence, Disney quietly shelved his film Magazine Dreams. Searchlight Pictures quickly picked it up; however, it does not have a release date.

It is unclear what other movies Bob Iger and Walt Disney Studios are planning on putting on the shelf, and he said Disney also planned on cutting the number of TV shows on its streaming services.

Without fanfare, Disney announced that the Star Wars show, Obi-Wan, would not return for a second season. Disney released the DVD collection for the show, calling the first season “the entire series.” This is a subtle way of telling Star Wars fans that there won’t be a second season. 

Leaning Heavily on IP

Bob Iger also bragged about Walt Disney Studio’s 2024 film slate, which will rely heavily on stories and characters that fans already know and love. Iger recently announced that Moana 2 from Walt Disney Animation will be the studio’s only release of the year. 

Of all the films that Disney will release in 2024, not a single one is a new property. The first release will be Pixar’s Inside Out 2 (2024) in May, followed by Marvel Studios Deadpool and Wolverine (2024) in July. The year ends with The Lion King: Mufasa (2024). 

With so few releases, Iger says that the studio is focusing on the quality of the stories rather than pushing out as many films as possible.

Iger said:

Focus is really important. We reduced the output of Marvel, both 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.

It remains to be seen if Iger’s strategy is successful in turning around the studio that he helped to revive once before. But with Nelson Peltz and Elon Musk constantly on his heels, Iger has to show results soon.

What do you think of Iger’s new strategy? Let us know in the comments.