Disney has outlined a ‘quality over quantity’ method for the future – following a recent string of box office disappointments. Disney are looking to reduce the number of releases and budgets where they can following the recent Q3 Earnings Call.
In a statement from Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, the company were “focused on improving the quality of our films, and on better economics – not just reducing the number of titles we release, but also the cost per title. And we’re maximizing the full impact of our titles by embracing the multiple distribution windows at our disposal, enabling consumers to access our content in multiple ways.”
Iger believes that if Disney steers efforts onto “big franchises and tentpole films,” they can “generate interest in our existing library. For example, we’re seeing tremendous engagement on Disney+ with the previous Guardians of the Galaxy films, the original Avatar, and the first four Indiana Jones movies.”
As of July, Disney were reportedly the most financially successful studio in 2023, earning $3.4 billion from every venture in the works – including Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar. But this news only reveals one half of the picture, as the studio has suffered drawbacks with recent releases.
For example, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, with a budget of almost $300 million, managed $369 million in international markets. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania secured $476.1 million, while Elemental pulled in $400 million. Haunted Mansion, which has yet to debut in the UK, has earned $63.2 million at the time of writing.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, now available on Disney Plus, pulled in a respectable $845 million against a budget of $250 million. Critical reception toward recent Marvel releases have been increasingly mixed, following the Secret Invasion finale and Jeff Loveness weighing in on Quantumania’s reviews.
