It’s being reported that Disney CEO Bob Iger will be pulling back on the spending and creation of new Star Wars and Marvel content.
A report from media outlet CNBC has revealed that current Disney CEO Bob Iger plans to cut back on the creation of its Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm franchises. The plan is to slow down the production of more movie and TV content, reducing costs across the board following recent box office results.
Speaking to CNBC, Iger said “You pull back not just to focus, but also as part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make and making less.” In addition, the Disney CEO went on to mention the explosion in Marvel TV shows in recent years, stating they had, “diluted focus and attention” for the brand.
The comments come at a time when the recent MCU movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, had the sharpest decline in ticket sales from its opening weekend in franchise history. The threequel also received a number of mixed to negative reviews across the board, from fans and critics alike.
The article goes on to mention that there hasn’t been a Star Wars film in theatres since 2019, with Lucasfilm focussing on live-action Disney+ output such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and the upcoming Ahsoka series. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny also failed to set the box office alight, despite being released ahead of the Fourth of July holiday period.
Earlier this year, Disney stated that it would be cutting $5.5 billion in costs, with at least $3 billion from content that excluded sports. Iger mentioned that a number of the company's recent business decisions had been made to attract new customers to Disney+, with `Marvel highlighted as being an example of the company’s “zeal” to pump up its original streaming content.
“Marvel is a great example of that,” said Iger. “It had not been in the television business at any significant level, and not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of TV series. Frankly, it diluted focus and attention.”
During the CNBC interview, Iger went on to say it was possible Disney might even go so far as to licence its content out to other streaming services, “It’s a possibility. I won’t rule it out.”
There’s no way of knowing at this stage how Disney’s ambitious and wide-reaching plans to cut content will affect future phases of the MCU or the Star Wars universe to come, but what does seem clear is that big changes are coming to both franchises.
Featured image: Marvel
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