Disney CEO Bob Iger discusses recent failures in Marvel and Pixar films.

Katie JerkovichJuly 13, 2023

Disney CEO Bob Iger Addresses Recent Box Office Flops

Disney CEO iger-defends-marvel-says-cooglers-work-on-black-panther-not-less-than-what-scorsese-or-coppola-have-done” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Bob Iger recently spoke out about the disappointing performance of Marvel movies like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and animated Pixar films such as “Lightyear” and “Elemental.”

During Iger’s appearance at the Sun Valley Conference, he acknowledged that the decision to offer too much content on the Disney+ streaming service was a major factor contributing to the films’ underperformance, as reported by Variety.

“There have been some disappointments,” Iger admitted. “We would have liked some of our more recent releases to perform better. It’s reflective not as a problem from a personnel perspective, but I think in our zeal to basically grow our content significantly to serve mostly our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people way beyond — in terms of their time and their focus — way beyond where they had been.”

Bob Iger has acknowledged that Pixar movies going straight to Disney+ has caused an impact in the demand for seeing new Pixar movies in theaters.

However, he also adds that the studio has had some “creative misses.”

(Source: @CNBC) pic.twitter.com/CWZKoxbiKV

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 13, 2023

“Marvel’s a great example of that,” he added. “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, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, more of the cause than anything.”

When it comes to Pixar flops like “Elemental,” Iger admitted that the decision to skip theaters and go straight to streaming due to COVID was a mistake. This strategy was also employed for movies like “Luca” and “Turning Red.”

“That may have created an expectation in the audience that they’re going to eventually be on streaming and probably quickly, and there wasn’t an urgency,” said Iger.

“And then I think there was some, I think you’d have to agree that there were some creative misses, as well,” he added, without specifying further.

The “Ant-Man and the Wasp” sequel, released in February, has failed to earn 0 million worldwide.