Bob Iger “Elated” By SAG-AFTRA Deal; “It Was Time,” Disney Boss Says Of End To Strike

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney CEO Bob Iger focused on instilling employees with renewed optimism about the Mouse House’s “blessed” and “fortunate” state during a virtual company-wide town hall Tuesday, rather than making any proclamations about the company’s future. The event, moderated by ABC News’ David Muir, was held just over a week after the one-year anniversary of Iger’s return to the helm at Disney (Iger hosted a similar town hall exactly a year ago to the day, upon resuming his post last November) following the surprise ousting of Bob Chapek, and on the heels of Disney reporting its most recent quarterly and full-fiscal-year earnings and taking a stumble at the Thanksgiving holiday box office with new animated film “Wish.” When asked by Muir if coming back to the position of CEO has been more challenging than he had anticipated, Iger, who originally ran Disney for 15 years from 2005-2020, said yes. “I knew that there were myriad challenges that I would face coming back,” Iger said.

A year into the run of Bob Iger 2: Return of the CEO, the Walt Disney Co. has not yet rediscovered its mojo.

Tim Allen and Tom Hanks could be returning as Buzz Lightear and Woody in “Toy Story 5.”On Tuesday night’s episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Allen, 70, revealed that he and Hanks, 67, are in talks to get back behind the mic.“Bob Iger, head of Disney, said it was on,” Allen said of a fifth film in the 28-year-old franchise. “He actually said it was going to happen.

said in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment. “That’s for Bob Iger.”The Disney-produced film, which was made on a hefty $200 million budget, currently holds a 62% on RottenTomatoes, making it the third-lowest-scoring MCU film after “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Eternals.”In a zero-star review, The Post called the movie starring Brie Larson, Vellani and Teyonah Parris “interminable,” and said it was “a sad study of the downfall of America’s favorite screen franchise.”And ABC News’ Peter Travers echoed those sentiments, writing, “The MCU, once the spawner of glories, is stuck in a rut.

Justine Bateman has spent the better part of this year warning Hollywood about the potential consequences of artificial intelligence in film and TV, even before the topic became a major part of contract negotiations for both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.

After poor theatrical showings throughout 2023, and Marvel Studios and the MCU teetering for the first time after “The Marvels,” many look to Disney in anticipation of what the studio will do to right the ship. And maybe the first glimpse of an antidote is here.

Producers must give actors at least 48 hours to prepare a self-tape — longer if it’s before a weekend – and not assign more than eight pages to read for the first audition, according to a summary of SAG-AFTRA’s potential three-year contract.

Fran Drescher may have injected some Buddhism into SAG-AFTRA’s online meeting today on the new tentative agreement with the studios, but there was almost nothing monastic about the guild president’s opinion of critics of the November 8 deal.  

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher on Monday scolded “naysayers” and “contrarians” who have criticized the union’s new contract. Drescher defended the agreement during a Zoom meeting for SAG-AFTRA members on Monday morning. “Sadly there have been some naysayers who have exploited this momentum of ours,” Drescher said, appearing in a bathrobe from her home.

Less than 48 hours before SAG-AFTRA members begin voting on ratifying their new deal with the studios, the actors guild has released an extensive summary of the potential three-year contract.

Fran Drescher, the union’s president, has not only secured tentatively a historic three-year deal with studios but also garnered praise from some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Among them, George Clooney who expressed sheer astonishment at the deal.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The SAG-AFTRA strike is over, and it only took four minutes and 46 seconds after the news broke to receive an interview pitch for an actor from a publicist. That’s because strategists and publicists for the top movies from studios and streamers have been sitting on their hands, waiting for their actors to promote their films that are in the conversation for Oscar attention.

EXCLUSIVE: “We know that generations from now they’ll be talking about this seminal contract and reaping the benefits of it in the way that we have been for the last 65 years with a contract that was negotiated when Ronald Reagan was in my position,” says SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher of the new contract the actors guild made with the studios on Wednesday after 118 days on strike.

Media stocks popped Thursday, well outperforming the broader market, after news that the months longs SAG-AFTRA strike has been settled, with the actors’ guild and the AMPTP announcing a agreement last night. Halted productions can soon look to restart, the theatrical release calendar can stop shifting and the industry begin to get back to normal after a tough summer and fall.

Selome Hailu Hollywood may soon be back in business. SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). If ratified, the new contract would end the actors union’s historic 118-day strike.

After 118 days of the actors guild being out on strike, SAG-AFTRA and the studios have reached a tentative deal on a new contract that could see Hollywood up and running again within weeks.

Disney CEO Bob Iger says next month’s beta launch of a combined Hulu–Disney+ app will help acclimate families to the concept of Bluey being a couple of clicks away from American Horror Story.

There’s no deal yet between the studios and SAG-AFTRA, but Bob Iger is hopeful an agreement is coming soon.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney, which is in the home stretch of swinging the deal to become the full owner of Hulu, will launch a beta test of an app next month that combines Disney+ and Hulu into a single experience, CEO Bob Iger said. Disney still needs to close its deal with Comcast to buy out NBCUniversal’s 33% stake in Hulu. In a filing last week, Disney said it would pay at least $8.61 billion to Comcast for the Hulu stake, with the final price tag — which could be much higher — to be based on an assessment of Hulu’s market value by each parties’ bankers.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The studios told SAG-AFTRA on Saturday that they have made their “last, best and final” offer, as they seek an end to the 114-day actors strike. The offer includes an enhanced residual bonus for high-performing streaming shows. Under the proposal, actors who appear on the most-watched shows on each platform will see their standard streaming residual doubled.