Disney's strategic pivot: Quality over quantity in future releases
12 May 2024 15:56
In 2023, Disney+ started to turn a profit for the first time. While "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" raked in approximately $845 million at the box office, Disney experienced a series of costly setbacks. The company's decision-makers realized that more doesn't always mean better for its studio productions. They announced a strategic shift towards fewer, hopefully higher-quality releases.
Studio President Bob Iger announced a future strategy for Marvel Studios, limiting its output to 2-3 comic book superhero movies per year and a maximum of two thematic series for Disney+. This approach aims to recapture the earlier success between 2013 and 2015 when Marvel released two movies annually and enjoyed significant financial success.
Among 2023 releases, only the third instalment of "Guardians of the Galaxy" stood out as a hit, unlike "Marvel" and "Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania." "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," another Disney project, also underperformed financially. After Iger's announcement, plans were scaled back to just one comic book movie premiere in 2024, "Deadpool & Wolverine," despite previously planning up to four releases for 2025.
The reorientation also affects Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, which will focus more on creating sequels like "Inside Out 2" or "Toy Story 5" rather than venturing into new, potentially riskier projects.
"Star Wars" not as profitable as it seemed
Disney is reassessing the "Star Wars" brand's performance as well. The last feature film was released in 2019, and the much-anticipated "Star Wars: Rogue Squadron," announced in 2020, is still yet to materialize. The uncertainty within Lucasfilm also casts doubt on the future of the new trilogy featuring Rey (Daisy Ridley).
Despite a flurry of live-action and animated series from the "Star Wars" universe in recent years, the brand has not lived up to its financial expectations for Disney. As reported by "Forbes," the returns from "Star Wars" have yet to offset Lucasfilm's $4 billion purchase cost in 2012.
