Disney Doubles Down on Bob Iger’s Previously Announced Creative Shift

Earlier this year, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Disney would be carefully considering its creative ventures and taking steps to ensure that Disney’s investment in its film and media productions met the standard that the Mouse House has set and had going for decades now. After 2022’s fiasco (Disney lost billions during former Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s tenure, specifically when it came to streaming media), Mr. Iger has worked to reassure shareholders that the company is working hard and putting correctives in place to ensure that Disney doesn’t face the same issues once again.

Disney’s creative shift: the end of the Chapek-era

During the February earnings call, Bob Iger reiterated that Disney was putting power back in the hands of the creatives. He promised the community that Disney would be taking a “hard look” at everything they made as they worked on optimizing costs and generating quality creative content.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen different versions of that manifest, whether with the shocking firing of Marvel chairman Isaac Perlmutter or firing the executives behind Lightyear, including the woman who’s known for saving Pixar. Now, we’ve seen yet another instance of evidence that Disney is taking its creative process seriously.

Disney makes major changes to its release calendar

Journalist Scott Gustin took to Twitter to share that the Walt Disney Company is making major changes to its release calendar. The calendar now includes a new Star Wars movie for December 2026, it’s delaying the Avatar movies (Avatar 3 is pushed to December 2025, Avatar 4 to 2029, and Avatar 5 to 2031) and is pushing back its Marvel slate.

Disney is making major changes to its release calendar, including a new "Star Wars" movie for Dec. 2026, delaying the Avatar movies, and pushing back its Marvel slate.

Avatar 3 was pushed from Dec. 2024 to Dec. 2025. Avatar 4 is now set to release in 2029 and Avatar 5 in 2031. pic.twitter.com/1BHQ7xZ616

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) June 13, 2023

In the release calendar, a new “Untitled Alien Event Movie” is included for release in 2024, along with a host of other untitled Disney movies.

Here are all the changes confirmed today. I'm still working on getting a complete release schedule with all the previously announced films, new dates, etc. pic.twitter.com/riaQZnicbG

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) June 13, 2023

While some may question whether this is truly representative of Disney doubling down on its creative shift, it’s worth noting these are significant changes to the calendar and are signs of some major discussions behind the scenes. While we don’t have confirmation of what caused this move, the speculation that Disney is crafting releases and moving around their release date to reflect the company’s standard for storytelling is not too far off in the realm of possibilities, considering their recent structural changes, as well as the ongoing writer’s strike.