Disney CEO Says Turning Around Marvel Is ‘Number One Priority’

Disney chief Bob Iger is prioritising a return to success for Marvel.

The 72-year-old media executive, who made a surprise return as Disney boss after his short-lived successor Bob Chapek was ousted last year, feels that the studio has made “too many” movies in recent years that has led to a decline in box office performance and is desperate to get back on to a successful path.

Speaking at The New York Times DealBook summit, Iger said: “Quality needs attention to deliver quality, it doesn’t happen by accident. And quantity, in our case, diluted quality – and Marvel has suffered greatly from that.”

“I would say right now my number one priority is to help the studio turn around creatively,” he added.

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Iger believes that Disney have made “too many sequels” that have not been well received by either critics or audiences – a statement justified by recent blockbuster The Marvels bombing at the box office.

He said: “There has to be a good reason to make [sequels] … often, the story is not as strong as the original story, that can be a problem, but it just has to have a reason, you have to have a reason to make it beyond commerce … There has to be an artistic reason to make it, and we’ve made too many.”

Iger also cited a lack of executive control of movies that were shot during the coronavirus pandemic — including The Marvels — as a potential reason for the reduction in quality.

He said: “The Marvels was shot during Covid, there wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives there, really looking over what’s being done day after day after day.”

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