Bob Iger, the head of Disney, announced that the company will greatly scale back its production of Marvel based television shows and movies known collectively as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The decision was made after the last few Marvel movies did poorly at the box office and Marvel TV shows were not well received. It also came after Disney’s streaming services Hulu and Disney+ recorded their first ever quarterly profit at the start of 2024 of $47 million.
In recent years it seemed as if Disney had put all of its eggs into one basket, or two as the case may be – the MCU and Star Wars franchises. Disney+ has relied heavily on original programming from those two franchises and in doing so stretched the quality a bit thin. Whereas Hulu has had a string of successful original television series like “The Great,” “Only Murderers in the Building” and “Ramy.”
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In a quarterly earnings call made on Tuesday, Bob Iger told investors, “We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three. And we’re working hard on what that path is.”
“We had gone through a period where our original films and animation, both Disney and Pixar, were dominating,” he added. “We’re now swinging back a bit to lean on sequels.”
Bob Iger is an American businessman who served as the CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020. During his tenure, he oversaw the acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 21st Century Fox, which transformed Disney into a major player in the entertainment industry. He also oversaw the opening of the Disney theme parks in Shanghai and Hoang Kong, and the launch of the Disney+ streaming service.
Iger was born in New York City in 1951. He graduated from the University of Michigan and the Harvard Business School. He began his career at ABC in 1973, and he rose through the ranks of the company. In 1996, he was named president of ABC Entertainment. In 2000, he was named president and CEO of the Walt Disney Company.
As CEO, Bob Iger made a number of strategic decisions that helped to grow Disney’s business. He acquired Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion, which gave Disney access to Pixar’s animated film library and its talent. In 2009, he acquired Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion, which gave Disney the rights to the Marvel Comics characters. In 2012, he acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, which gave Disney the rights to the Star Wars franchise. In 2019, he acquired 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion, which gave Disney the rights to the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Avatar franchises.
Bob Iger also oversaw the opening of the Disney theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong, and the launch of the Disney+ streaming service. Disney+ is a subscription streaming service that offers a library of Disney movies, TV shows, and original content. It launched in 2019 and has become a major success, with over 130 million subscribers worldwide.
