Disney CEO Says Marvel Will Reduce Output To 3 Films & 2 Shows Max Per Year

Disney Legend Richard M. Sherman, half of the Academy Award-winning songwriting team of the Sherman Brothers with his late brother, fellow Legend Robert B. Sherman, died today at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills at 95 from age-related illness.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor New technology is friend not foe to Hollywood’s creative community. That was the message delivered Thursday morning by Disney CEO Bob Iger during his keynote conversation at the Canva Create showcase event held at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park. Iger, who is an investor and board member of the privately held online design platform, commended Canva for embracing the potential of generative AI tools and other cutting-edge technologies to make high-end visual media design tools readily available to everyday users.

Disney director James Gorman, who retired as CEO of Morgan Stanley in January after a smooth succession process, will also be stepping down as executive chairman of the financial giant.

Marvel Studios’ Vision in a newly greenlit Disney+ series.Variety reported yesterday (May 23) that the as-yet-titled series will be helmed by showrunner Terry Matalas, who led the recent seasons of Star Trek: Picard as executive producer. It is currently earmarked for a 2026 release.The report states that Matalas was brought in by Marvel after being impressed by his work on Star Trek: Picard, which has seen Marvel alumni Patrick Stewart heading his first Star Trek outing since 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis.Bettany last played Vision in the 2021 Disney+ series WandaVision, where the character was resurrected and revamped into White Vision following his death in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War.That year, Bettany revealed in an interview that his contract with Marvel had expired, stating: “I guess it would be difficult to introduce White Vision and not deal with him in some way, but we have not discussed that.”In 2022, Variety reported that a Vision spinoff series was in development by WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer, who is currently preparing the September 2024 release of Disney+ series – and fellow WandaVision spin-off – Agatha All Along.Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that there will be fewer new entries in the near future for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Did you know it’s been nearly two years since there were reports that Marvel Studios was developing a series surrounding the return of Vision, played by Paul Bettany. At the time, it was another series from “WandaVision” head writer, Jac Shaeffer, and seemed to be on the fast track to happening.

upfronts on a mission to get advertisers excited about a handful of new series coming in the fall. This year, TV’s big players took a T-shirt cannon approach. Every one of the major presentations during the May 13-15 sprint in midtown Manhattan — NBCUniversal, Fox, Disney, Amazon, Warner Bros.

In July of 2023, recently returned Disney CEO Bob Iger shocked the media industry by indicating he might be open to divesting the company’s declining  linear assets. By last fall, he’d changed his mind, declaring them not for sale. On interviews and earnings calls since, he’s explained why — most recently at the MoffettNathanson media conference, and in the midst of annual upfront presentations to advertisers.

Walt Disney will cut its investment in programming for traditional television networks “pretty dramatically” as the company navigates the consumer shift to streaming, Chief Executive Bob Iger said Wednesday.Iger said linear channels such as ABC still serve as an important marketing tool and reach older viewers who are not watching series such as “Abbott Elementary” on Disney’s streaming platforms.Still, the goal is to “reduce pretty dramatically our investment in content specifically aimed at those traditional networks,” Iger said at the MoffettNathanson’s 2024 Media, Internet and Communications Conference in New York.On Disney’s theme parks business, Iger said he expected continued growth but perhaps not at the same rate as in recent years.“We’ve had double-digit revenue growth in that business for quite some time, and that’s extraordinary,” he said.

Over the past several months, on more than one occasion, we’ve heard from Disney executives about how they’re going to be cutting back a bit on streaming and put the focus on streamlining releases. That is to say, all that talk about how Disney+ was going to be the golden goose of the company was a bit premature.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney CEO Bob Iger said that as the traditional pay-TV universe continues to shrink, the company is cutting its investment in content for linear TV networks while also amortizing that expenditure across streaming platforms. The strategy is “to reduce pretty dramatically our investment in content specifically aimed in those traditional networks,” Iger said Wednesday at MoffettNathanson’s 2024 Media, Internet and Communications Conference in New York.

After a two-year absence from the upfront stage, Jimmy Kimmel was back Tuesday to take aim at Bob Iger, P Diddy, CBS and the new Golden Bachelorette.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer The theme of Disney‘s 2024 upfront presentation to advertisers Tuesday was “connections” — and not just because of the running bit started by “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Rob McElhenney, which involved their constant replaying of a five-second ad spot that said “Connections!” with a Disneyified logo and voiceover. No, the symbol of unity across Disney’s brands was made up of a slew of announcements from Marvel, and about such other high-wattage projects as “Star Wars,” “The Bear,” “Only Murders in the Building,” the “Wizards of Waverly Place” sequel series, “9-1-1,” Ryan Murphy’s new slate of FX titles and more franchises with intersecting talent. Disney kicked off the event when Oscar-winning “Poor Things” star Emma Stone introduced the Mouse House’s big boss, Bob Iger — a job like that would traditionally go to a top ABC star.

“I am deeply optimistic about our company, and in a world that is so in need of entertainment is a true privilege,” said Disney boss Bob Iger today in a rare appearance on stage at the start of the media giant’s upfront presentation in New York City. “To run a company that is the embodiment of creative excellence, of great and bold storytelling, of quality, and of innovation.”

With Paramount Global and its assets currently in play, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook was asked on a call today if the nation’s biggest broadcast might look at CBS stations.

Bob Iger, CEO2023 compensation: $31.6M/+110.7%Median employee compensation $54,010Iger pay ratio to median employee: 595 It was a contentious time for the congenitally congenial Disney chief. First, he made some ill-considered remarks at Sun Valley, a conference for media barons held in a posh resort, characterizing striking actors’ demands as “not realistic.” Those words were slammed by SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher, with Iger becoming exhibit A for corporate greed.

The Anaheim City Council gave final approval today to DisneylandForward, the $1.9 billion, Disney’s multi-decade expansion plan for Walt’s original park. Today’s 7-0 procedural vote came after a unanimous vote approving the project in April. The zoning and other changes laid out by the plan to take effect in 30 days.

Marvel Studios Co-President Louis D’Esposito and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige are addressing the rough patch the studio has been through over the last few years.

during a quarterly earnings call on Tuesday. “The team is one that I have tremendous confidence in,” he began.

Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future, according to the CEO of Disney.Bob Iger was speaking to Wall Street analysts when he confirmed that he plans to release no more than three new Marvel films per year, as well as only two television series in the MCU.The studio head said that the plan is part of an overall strategy at Disney to focus on quality rather than quantity, with that applying particularly to their Marvel properties.“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,” he said. “And we’re working hard on what that path is.”He continued that the MCU will have “a couple of good films in ’25 and then we’re heading to more Avengers, which we’re extremely excited about.”“Overall, I feel great about the slate.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito admitted to Empire magazine that “it’s been a rough time” for the Marvel Cinematic Universe following a rocky 2023 that included box office flops “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels.” The latter title is the lowest-grossing MCU movie of all time with just $206 million worldwide. Marvel didn’t fare better on television, where series such as “Secret Invasion” were widely panned by critics. Despite these setbacks, D’Esposito is committed to seeing the glass half full.