Disney CEO Bob Iger defended Disney’s box office performance in a recent interview at The New York Times DealBook Summit. Mr. Iger stated that past successes had set the bar unrealistically high.
Iger believes his company’s success created unrealistic standards. “We got to the point where if a film didn’t do a billion dollars in global box office, we were disappointed,” he said. Iger indicated Disney is responsible for some of the box office misses by placing quantity before quality.
In response to questions about the company’s box office misses, the CEO said: “I’m not sure another studio will ever achieve some of the numbers that we achieved.”
Disney can claim 10 of the 20 highest-grossing films, each of which took more than $1 billion at the box office, per IMDb.
Recent releases, however, have disappointed. “Wish” made just $19.5 million domestically on its opening weekend, making it one of the worst debuts for a Disney animated feature.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” cost nearly $300 million but took just $60.4 million on its opening weekend in the US. However, the film has now made $383 million globally, per Box Office Mojo.
Mr. Iger laid some of the blame on his chosen successor, Bob Chapek, who he came out of retirement to replace a year ago.
“I was disappointed in what I was seeing, both during the transition period when I was still there, and while I was out,” said Iger. He added that Disney would only greenlight sequels if there’s a story worth telling.
Since Iger’s return 12 months ago, Mr. Iger made streamlining operations a key priority. In February, he announced plans to slash 7,000 jobs in order to save $5.5 billion.
Disney stock is down by a fifth over the past five years and is largely flat in 2023. The company’s net worth is just under $170 billion – almost $40 billion less than Netflix.
Do you agree that Disney has been guilty of placing quantity over quality at the box office?