Marvel to release fewer movies in future, Disney CEO confirms

sports-streaming service set to be launched by Walt Disney, 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.

As Deadline first told you first, Francis Ford Coppola‘s Megalopolis was always destined for an Imax release. Heck, the first screening was shown at Universal Citywalk Imax theater. So, there’s no news in the fact that the $120M dystopian future epic is getting a global Imax release.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Raven-Symoné is extending her relationship with Disney, which she has called home for many years, with a new multi-year overall deal at Disney Branded Television. Under the pact, she will produce, direct, and develop projects across linear and streaming, with a focus on multi-cam comedies.

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.

There’s a new slate of Marvel shows coming to Disney+ soon.

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.

Marvel’s upcoming Agatha series, starring Kathryn Hahn, finally has an official title.

It’s been recently reported that Marvel Studios is going after a leaker on social media by trying to get Meta to give personal information about an anonymous account. They’re mad that this person is seemingly sharing copyrighted information early.

Despite many walking out on Jerry Seinfeld‘s Duke Commencement Address, the stand-up comedian still delivered his speech and apologized for the “sexual undertones” in Bee Movie.

Colin Jost is reacting to Marvel pulling back on their yearly releases!

The Fall Guy.”But the crowd, such as it was, looked nothing like the ticket buyers of nearly a year ago when the same A-list duo was part of the cinematic phenomenon known as #Barbenheimer.Remember those three surreal days when the masses, lemming-like, donned pink skirts and roller skates (and, for a sprinkle of nerds, brown fedoras) and packed theaters to capacity to see films about an old doll and a dead physicist?Domestically, that pair of polar opposites “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” grossed a combined $246 million on their opening weekend in July 2023. They went on to do $2.4 billion in business worldwide.

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

As everyone knows, the otherwise untouchable Marvel Studios had a particularly rough 2023. The disappointment of “Ant-Man: Quantumania,” the box office flop of “The Marvels,” and the critically reviled Disney+ series, “Secret Invasion,” severely put the studio on the ropes for the first time ever.

Marvel will be cutting back on the amount of content released per year after seeing a dip in interest.

It’s not really news to say that Disney CEO Bob Iger is going to be a bit more hands-on with Marvel Studios in the future. The executive has made several comments in the past about reducing the number of projects the studio releases, as well as making sure the films and TV series that are released are of the best quality.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company will limit its output of Marvel movies to “two good films” a year — three maximum — from about four and also cut the numbers of TV series spinoffs for the franchise.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Disney doesn’t think it’s going to foul in its drive to score a new pact with the NBA. Speaking to investors Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company was “optimistic or confident” that Disney would renew its agreement with the basketball league that would keep a sizable package of its games on ESPN and other Disney properties. Disney has also served as home to the NBA Finals, which typically air on the ABC broadcast network.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company is shrinking the MCU with a new mission to drop the number of Marvel TV series to two a year and the film output to no more than three movies per year. Iger said this is part of Disney’s overall strategy to reduce output and focus on quality, a strategy “that’s particularly true with Marvel.” On the TV side, Iger says that a portion of the upcoming series set for release are “a vestige of basically a desire in the past to increase volume.” “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.