By Gavin Boyle
While Disney seems to invest only in established IP, the company’s CEO Bob Iger explained that he still values original stories to the same degree.
“I wouldn’t say that we’ve got a priority one way or the other. Our priority is to put out great movies that ultimately resonate with consumers. And the more we can find and develop original property, the better, of course,” Iger told investors after the company’s most recent quarterly earnings were released.
“We are developing original property under the 20th Century [Studios] banner and under the Searchlight [Pictures] banner. And you could even argue that Marvel continues to mine its library of characters for original property. Even though, for instance, there have been FANTASTIC FOUR movies before, we kind of consider the one that we did an original property in many respects because we’re introducing those characters to people who are not familiar with them at all,” the CEO continued.
Iger previously spoke about the company’s need to refocus on producing high quality media above all else. He admitted that Disney misstepped in recent years as it focused on pushing an agenda and pumping out as much content as possible without emphasizing quality. These policies resulted in movies like LIGHTYEAR which completely failed after alienating its audience. Meanwhile franchises like Star Wars and Marvel have become too bloated for most fans to keep up with.
Related: Are All These Hollywood Sequels Really Sustainable?
“In our zeal to basically grow our content significantly and serve our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people, in terms of their time and their focus, way beyond where they had been,” Iger explained in the summer of 2023 when explaining why the company would be reducing its output. “Marvel is a great example of that. They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series for Disney+.”
“What we have to look at at Marvel is not necessarily the volume of Marvel stories we’re telling but how many times we go back to the well on certain characters,” he added. “Sequels typically work well for us. Do you need a third and a fourth, for instance, or is it time to turn to other characters?”
The refocus on high-quality storytelling has paid off, and so far this year, Disney has accounted for five of the top 10 movies at the domestic box office. While all of these movies are related to an already established IP, it is clear that Disney is getting back on track as it looks to reclaim its spot as the premiere creator of family-friendly content.
Read Next: Bob Iger Explains Where He Thinks Disney Went Wrong
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