Germany once boycotted Disney-owned Marvel’s Age of Ultron, and it was reportedly because of the Walt Disney Company’s greed.

The Walt Disney Company has been facing its fair share of criticism and controversy this past year. Since former Disney CEO Bob Chapek was unceremoniously ousted from his position in a move that shocked—but didn’t upset—many in November 2022,  through the Disney layoffs, to now with all of its controversy surrounding Rachel Zegler and Snow White, and of course, the standard “woke Disney” argument, the Mouse House has received a lot of flack.

However, there have been times through this when some have actively boycotted the Walt Disney Company or its films or TV shows.

Read More: Turkish Officials Slam Disney, Thousands Call for its Boycott Once Again

686 German Cinemas Boycott Avengers: Age of Ultron

While some might imagine that the film’s portrayal of Europe (the fictional country Sokovia is portrayed as infested with Nazis and gets leveled in the film’s climax) is the reason behind the 696 German cinemas refusing to play the movie, that’s actually not true. Instead, this happened because of the film’s distributor, Disney, and its greed, per Slash Film.

According to this report, Disney demanded exceedingly high rental fees. Slash Film explains, “Disney raised its fee in Germany from 47.7% to 53%. The studio also decreased its contribution to advertising costs and removed advances for 3-D glasses.”

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The Walt Disney Company had placed a lot of bets on the movie and were certain that it would bring in a lot of money, and so reportedly chose to try to leverage that guaranteed success. Smaller cinemas couldn’t afford the fees and, therefore, had to boycott the movie.

They would “be losing out on money that was vital to their operations’ cost. Karl-Heinz Meier of advocacy group I.G. Nord told Deutsche Welle that the larger chain theaters ‘would like to support us, but they can’t because of their contracts.'”

Some who are more familiar with the German system for public funding might also be aware that smaller theaters can, in fact, make use of public funding. However, the reality is a little more complicated.

“The cinemas that have received public funding are being pushed up against a wall with rental pricing that [is] 5.3% higher, and that means taxpayers’ money in the form of sustainable cultural support is in danger,” said Andreas Kramer of the German lobbying group Hauptverband Deutscher Filmtheater.

Needless to say, while many of the other boycotts Disney has seen have been more ideologically oriented, this one was purely for avoidable reasons, making it more unfortunate.

When Has Disney Previously Been Boycotted?

The most memorable boycott scandal when it comes to Disney is the one they were in earlier this year, around the same time as the Bud Light controversy.

Disney was part of a group of companies accused of being “too woke.” However, this is currently the least of the company’s problems, what with its needing to sell off its Indian assets to Asia’s richest billionaire and its major downsizing.

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