Iger's return may be a lot messier than his first run.

The IP acquisition strategy that worked out before is starting to fall apart where some assets could be worth much less than when they were acquired.

Lucasfilm - Some subpar TV shows and movies. Mandalorian feels like it's the closest to maintaining the SW fanbase's interest. IJ as a franchise demise to this point. Willow's IP is essentially done to after the TV show flopped and was taken off Disney+ as a write off.

Pixar - Grosses and openings on the downward spiral. Elemental having amazing legs doesn't escape the fact the Pixar of 2023 isn't the same we had when Disney acquired it and other studios didn't have strong animation arms.

Fox - Avatar has been lucrative. Feels like Disney really hasn't done as much with this as they should have thus far if you're buying an entire studio and spend nearly $80B on this.

Marvel - Has been the most lucrative play for Disney but definitely needs a retool.

Fox only had a first look distribution license and the merchandise license. James Cameron's Lightstorm entertainment owns the intellectual property of Avatar. When Disney bought most of Fox, Disney only inherited the distribution and the merchandise license. I think that is why Disney didn't do much with the Avatar franchise outside of the movies and Pandora.

I think he meant Fox properties overall, not Avatar.

We'll see with how they incorporate Fox Marvel characters into the MCU (X-Men, F4)

I just think we're past the peak for all these properties. It happens. Franchises and genres can have multiple peaks. Pixar might have a revival in the 2030s, we'll see.

But yes, it's not good for Disney shareholders that all these goldmines are on the wrong slope of the peak.

Yeah, was more talking broadly about the Fox acquisition overall and highlighted Avatar since it has some benefits for Disney. Another Simpsons movie would be a good way to extend the Fox IP.

I do wonder the impact Barbie could have on Mattel. It's a toy company that is gearing up to be much more based on the partnerships its gone out with (Barbie AirBNB place people can rent). With the Instagram / Tiktok age, people eat those type of things up. I could see a big portion of the population stay in Barbie resorts, an entire Barbieland theme park (apparently in development in AZ), etc.

I wonder as a test what a Mr Beast starring Pixar movie would be like about a kid who becomes a star making viral experiences. I do think it would be cool to see Pixar animate some of the things he's done on his Youtube channel and with 160M+ followers a lot of people would watch it. Is it a gimmick, maybe, but feel like it could be very lucrative for family audiences.

Yeah but not an 83 year old. Unless he's playing Biden!

Failing upwards is the norm in Hollywood

You're talking about the last five years and not her entire 40 year career, right? Because if I can have a career that fails up in the same way, sign me up!

What's been her biggest failure (before Indy)? Solo? Say what you will about the Disney SW trilogy, but I don't think they're exactly crying over how they performed. The only other mistake I can think of is the over abundance of SW shows on Disney+, but that's more on Iger and Chapek because that applies to Marvel too.

A budget of $295 million is way too much for an IJ film, but I can't say I blame her or Disney. I thought the interest was there too. I'm guessing Disney won't be premiering anything at Cannes again anytime soon. They thought they had a home run.

I think that halving the WW box office by the third film is pretty bad. Anyone can make SW7 a hit. Sustaining interest is the truck.

Yeah, but you noticed how you said anyone can make VII a hit? That's because it was the most anticipated film of all-time. The box office of VIII and IX was always going to go down substantially. I guess they should cut ties and not release Avatar 3.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they're kicking themselves for not planning out the trilogy (step one, don't hire JJ for only one movie initially...then again he can never finish anything), or not releasing them three years apart instead of two, especially after Carrie Fisher died. But even if VIII and IX were perfect films, they weren't making anywhere near as much as VII.

But as I said, based on what they did actually make, they're not crying.

1000% - she kills everything she touches.

DHD Update:

1.) IJ5 $24M / $60-65M 3day / $80-85M 5day

2.) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony) 3,405 theaters, Fri $3.6M (-37%), 3-day $12.4M (-35%)/Total $340.7M /Wk 5

3.) Elemental (Dis) 3,650 theaters, Fri $3.3M (-41%), 3-day $10.5M (-42%), Total $87.9M/Wk 3

4.) No Hard Feelings (Sony) 3,208 theaters, Fri $2.3M (-63%), 3-day $7.6M (-50%), Total $29.4M /Wk 2

5.) Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Par) 2,852 theaters, Fri $1.85M (-42%), 3-day $6.5M (-45%), Total $135.6M/Wk 4

Ruby Gillman $2.5M / $6M 3day

Dude, she’s merely the face and oks things. She is hardly involved outside of pre and post.

She’s as involved in Lucasfilm’s creative side as Feine is at Marvel.

No she isn’t.

They have the exact same job title.

“president of Marvel studios”
President of Lucasfilm”

I’m surprised that IJ5’s audience score on RT isn’t being review bombed. 89% is like over 30% higher than Crystal Skull

Both are in charge of things and get final approval over everything, but Fiege has infinitely more creative input. He (with help I’m sure) is in charge of making sure everything’s connected and where the overall story is going. Kennedy does none of that.

Ok read something sometime. From working in the industry they are completely different. Feige created an empire. Kennnedy has had a strong body of work that had her promoted. You think she was in charge of Spielberg, Lucas or even Marshall at that time? She earned the Job, but the president has very little to do with a film.

This whole anti Kennedy movement is kind of hilarious. I literally talked to a guy yesterday. Told him I saw Indy, he said Crystal Skull ruined life, pressed him further, turns out he never even saw Crystal Skull.

Ruby Gillman... lol wow. What's bizarre is Elemental may lose more money than it in general even though its gross will be much more lol

Kathleen's reign has given us Last Jedi, Rebels and The Madalorian. Rogue One and Andor are also very well liked. She's done fine from a creative stand point.

However, she and Disney did undoubtably turn Star Wars from The Brand to just another brand. It's crazy to think that the rerelease of A New Hope opened to $35M in 1997 (and was #6 for the whole year.) I don't know or care what that adjusts to, but there's no other franchise that could pull off such a feat. Even during the 3d craze the highest opening was Lion King with $30M in 2011 (#33 overall for the year.)

Re: STAR WARS, scarcity can be a good thing and the Disney machine ruined that

YouTube/Social Media has made america dummer

IJ5 will be a bigger money loser than the Flash, but in a way it’s less disappointing since it’s hype always seemed muted. The Flash seemed to combust in the last few weeks.

Though Both could lose like 300m for the studios

$1,42M Friday for The Flash, down -69% from last Friday. Almost certainly taking the title of "lowest grossing $50M+ opener" from Watchmen ($107M) at this point.