Disney has faced significant challenges in recent years, particularly since it entered into a cultural conflict with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The company’s emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion in its programming has alienated some of its traditional American family audience. Reports indicate that Bob Iger and the board are under pressure, particularly regarding the profitability of their Marvel and Star Wars content.
Disney’s bottom line was hit by a string of failures in 2023-2024. The most notable one is “The Marvels,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe film that opened with its lowest box office performance. Pixar also had flops, as their latest film, “Elemental,” performed poorly at the box office.
Disney+ ratings have been down as well. Star Wars “Ahsoka” failed, a live-action homage to the children’s cartoon “Rebels.” The streaming app’s ratings were the lowest since the first season of “The Mandalorian.” Marvel did not fare any better with “Echo,” which was confirmed to be the least-viewed MCU series since Ms. Marvel’s debut.
Disney CEO Bob Iger warned in March that changes would be coming. “You have to kill things you no longer believe in,” he said, “and that’s not easy in this business because either you’ve gotten started, you have some sunk costs, or it’s a relationship with either your employees or with the creative community.”
He added, “We have reduced our output, especially at Marvel.” You do three things when you fix these problems in films. You become aggressive in your efforts to make the film you are making even better. You may have to kill projects that you do not believe in. “We’re doing that, but you also put in new projects that you believe in.
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment have laid off employees since those announcements. Marvel laid off 15 employees, as it seems Disney is testing the idea of reducing staff in these expensive companies. This was similar to what David Zaslav tried with Warner Bros.
A new Forbes exposé on the Star Wars series is also troubling for Disney. It revealed that Disney lost $2.8 billion when it purchased the Star Wars property from Lucasfilm back in 2012. The $4 billion price tag seemed to be easily recouped, but expensive production costs as well as a string of failures on Disney+ and at the box office have led to a situation in which Star Wars has failed for the mouse even after ten years.
Families and fans have had enough of the forced diversity agenda, which includes pushing LGBTQ content into children’s programming and teen programs. Disney has repeatedly warned Marvel and Star Wars fanatics that they will not be welcomed if they do not like the direction the franchises have taken.
Disney fans are listening to their complaints and will no longer buy tickets for movies or subscribe to Disney streaming platforms. It will be interesting if Bob Iger changes course and dials back the woke content or if Disney continues to double down on its losses.
