The more valuable a tentpole property is, the more rules you have to play by, not only to protect the brand, but also to make sure it reaches as many people as possible. And as Disney knows, it’s young people who have the most disposable income, so they want to makes sure their movies reach those impressionable minds with few barriers.
The Wrap reports that during a shareholder meeting last week, CEO Bob Iger revealed that the company’s on screen smoking ban was now being extended to pretty much every shingle under their umbrella — Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Pixar. “We are extending our policy to prohibit smoking in movies across the board: Marvel, Lucas, Pixar and Disney films,” he said. The only exception will be when "we are depicting a historical figure who may have smoked at the time,” and that means real people, not Marvel characters. This will be a change for the comic book company, who will have to adapt, given that 43% of their movies to date showed smoking.
Meanwhile, there has been a slight hiccup in Disney‘s efforts to push 2016’s "Star Wars" spinoff "Star Wars: Rogue One." THR reveals that when it came time to register the name, Paramount filed "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation" with the MPAA first and in theory, could’ve made life hell for Lucasfilm and their similar sounding movie. Instead, in a rare show of Hollywood cooperation, they’ll work together. Disney agreed to hold off promoting ‘Rogue One’ (except at their upcoming ‘Star Wars’ fan event next month) until this summer, after the marketing run for ‘Rogue Nation’ has been complete. But hey, that’s likely not a problem for Disney, who have plenty left to unveil for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" anyway.