Disney/Marvel release dates pushed back
Discussion
Don't say it's the writers strike, but yeah it's the writers strike.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-6589...
Avatar sequels moving to 2025, 2029 and 2031 (James Cameron would be 77 in 2031). The next Star Wars films to 2026 (Taika Waititi's?), Kang Dynasty to 2026 (that will give more time to sort the Jonathan Majors casting one way or the other)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-6589...
Avatar sequels moving to 2025, 2029 and 2031 (James Cameron would be 77 in 2031). The next Star Wars films to 2026 (Taika Waititi's?), Kang Dynasty to 2026 (that will give more time to sort the Jonathan Majors casting one way or the other)
Aunty Pasty said:
May be the writers strike but rumours are flying around that Disney is in deep financial trouble and may have to sell a few things or rein things in a bit.
This. Disney have consistently lost money on what should have been tent-pole movies (Lightyear, Strange World, Solo, etc.), but things took a dire turn not long after the FTX collapse where it was rumoured that The Disney Corporation was one of the creditors/investors who sought to protect their anonymity. This was the same weekend that their CEO Bob Chapek was 'let go' in the middle of the night, not because he was responsible for the losses but because the CFO Christine McCarthy wanted to keep the losses quiet and enlisted previous (and now current) CEO Bob Iger (who greenlit most of the turkeys Disney have released over recent years prior to Chapek taking over) to help her by ousting Chapek before he went publicly ballistic.There are also rumours now that Disney is seeking to sell Lucasfilm and 'merge' Disney+ with Apple-TV to try and cover the losses.
These stories and rumours of trouble at Disney have been floating around the trade press and social media for ages, but the fact that it is now hitting MSM outlets like the BBC shows that Disney are trying to control the narrative in advance of some big shake-ups. The forthcoming Indiana Jones film is rumoured to be one of the most expensive movies ever made due to extensive reshoots after trial screenings prompted very negative reviews (Disney tried to deny the ending was being re-shot, but John Williams gave the game away when he asked about it, saying he'd been called back to record a new score for a different ending) but the pre-screening of the finished movie at Cannes brought less-than-stellar reviews (with the BBC being particularly critical) and it is said that it has to make $1Billion worldwide to wash its face.
Edited by Evercross on Wednesday 14th June 10:04
I believe that Disney+ is still massively loss-making, so a tie-up with Apple might stem that flow a little, and Disney are still likely feeling the Covid sting from movies which had huge cinema-release based budgets, but subsequently ended up on streaming services instead.
It's always difficult to work out whether movies have made a profit or not, due to the opaque nature of movie costs, with many making losses on 'paper' but actually having made a decent profit in reality.
Subsequently, it's difficult to point at particular individual movies, but it seems that a fair few recently have just not earned the expected profits. In many ways it feels like production costs have massively spiralled out of control and too many movies have too much money spent on them with crazy box office expectations to justify the spend.
It's always difficult to work out whether movies have made a profit or not, due to the opaque nature of movie costs, with many making losses on 'paper' but actually having made a decent profit in reality.
Subsequently, it's difficult to point at particular individual movies, but it seems that a fair few recently have just not earned the expected profits. In many ways it feels like production costs have massively spiralled out of control and too many movies have too much money spent on them with crazy box office expectations to justify the spend.
tangerine_sedge said:
I believe that Disney+ is still massively loss-making, so a tie-up with Apple might stem that flow a little, and Disney are still likely feeling the Covid sting from movies which had huge cinema-release based budgets, but subsequently ended up on streaming services instead.
It's always difficult to work out whether movies have made a profit or not, due to the opaque nature of movie costs, with many making losses on 'paper' but actually having made a decent profit in reality.
Subsequently, it's difficult to point at particular individual movies, but it seems that a fair few recently have just not earned the expected profits. In many ways it feels like production costs have massively spiralled out of control and too many movies have too much money spent on them with crazy box office expectations to justify the spend.
$100’s of million a year in the red I’ve heard. One benefit to licensing your content to other streaming companies that it’s basically zero cost, all profit. They have all the costs and liability, you just get the money. As Disney are discovering, hosting, marketing, infrastructure and data centres are expensive with considerable costs that they avoided. It makes me wonder if any studio will actually cut their losses in a few years time, close their service and go back to Netflix or partner with Amazon or similar.It's always difficult to work out whether movies have made a profit or not, due to the opaque nature of movie costs, with many making losses on 'paper' but actually having made a decent profit in reality.
Subsequently, it's difficult to point at particular individual movies, but it seems that a fair few recently have just not earned the expected profits. In many ways it feels like production costs have massively spiralled out of control and too many movies have too much money spent on them with crazy box office expectations to justify the spend.
Joey Deacon said:
Disney must soon be running out of movie franchises they can destroy?
Not at all. On The Buses has just been secured. They're now circling Mind Your Language and maybe The Sullivans too.
Once the streaming content explosion has settled down and/or petered out it'll be interesting to see how the finances panned out. Incredible amounts must've been burnt.
Don't think I'll bother watching another Avatar. The second one nearly finished me off with utter boredom and that was in the fanciest, most spectacular cinema possible.
There is another financial time bomb waiting for Disney. They are under obligation to purchase Comcast's remaining share of streaming service Hulu by the end of 2024. When the deal was signed, both parties put a floor valuation of Hulu at $27.5 billion.
Comcast's holding is 33%, putting Disney on the hook for a minimum of just under $9.2 billion.
Delaying big releases isn't going to bring them the profits needed to cover that bill (quite the opposite) so it does indeed look as if Disney are going into cost-cutting/sell-off mode to try and meet their obligations.
Comcast's holding is 33%, putting Disney on the hook for a minimum of just under $9.2 billion.
Delaying big releases isn't going to bring them the profits needed to cover that bill (quite the opposite) so it does indeed look as if Disney are going into cost-cutting/sell-off mode to try and meet their obligations.
bloomen said:
On The Buses has just been secured.
I can see it now, Melissa McCarthy as Butler and Leslie Jones as Jackie, driving around in an electric bus with a massive rainbow painted on the side. Steve Carell can be Blakey and the film can basically be about Butler and Jackie ripping the piss out of Blakey all the time for his stupidy, mansplaining, toxic masculinity and continuously getting everybody's pronouns wrong.
Laverne Cox can be Olive, bringing up an adopted baby as a single, trans mother. Arthur will be wiped from existence in this version as you can only have one white, middle aged man per film to use as an object of ridicule.
Genuine Barn Find said:
Apparently some high level mole
is leaking loads of inside info on the current state of play at Disney, including the fact that they are at early stages of seeking the IP and rights of Star Wars back to Lucas.
Disney seem to be busy running every popular IP they have into the ground. Wouldn't be at all surprised if this is now costing them significant sums of money. is leaking loads of inside info on the current state of play at Disney, including the fact that they are at early stages of seeking the IP and rights of Star Wars back to Lucas.
JagLover said:
Disney seem to be busy running every popular IP they have into the ground. Wouldn't be at all surprised if this is now costing them significant sums of money.
The streaming series Willow (supposed to be a follow-up to the moderately successful 1988 film starring Warwick Davis) was pulled completely from Disney+ after only six months. Apparently this was so that its production costs could be written-off for tax purposes, but as a consequence it will now never see the light of day again.In other words, DIsney are literally having to burn IPs to balance the books.
Joey Deacon said:
Disney must soon be running out of movie franchises they can destroy?
I don't know what you mean. Winnie the Pooh may be out as it offends their Chinese masters, but there are still lots of live action remakes they could release:The Sword and the Stone, starring Viola Davis as Arthur
Snow White and the 7 Persons of Lesser Height, starring Jada Plinkett Smith as Snow White
Pocahontas featuring John Boyega as Captain John Smith
The Fox and the Hound, a touching story of the unlikely bond between a rabbit and a badger
The Song of the South starring...erm, maybe not that one.
bloomen said:
Evercross said:
In other words, DIsney are literally having to burn IPs to balance the books.
There seems to be a large uptick in burials and cancellations. It's their property to do with as they wish of course, bit of an annoyance for fans though.
Gassing Station | TV, Film, Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff