Disney is the resident behemoth in Hollywood. The company not only owns and distributes three of the biggest entertainment franchises in history (Pixar, Marvel, and ‘Star Wars’), they also have a pretty solid selection of their own homegrown films, with the animated and recent live-action films topping the box office. Then in a startling case of the rich getting richer, they recent swooped in and bought one of their biggest competitors, Fox, which has a library of films and TV shows that is only rivaled by Disney itself. And the man behind it all is CEO Bob Iger. The leader of the biggest entertainment studio in the world just recently gave an interview with THR and in it, he talks Marvel, the Fox merger, the streaming future and recent controversies with #MeToo, James Gunn, and Roseanne Barr.
Needless to say, there’s some ground to cover. So, buckle up.
We’ll start with the good news first. One of the best purchases in recent film/TV history, Disney’s acquisition of Marvel has paid huge dividends with record-breaking films, popular TV shows, and massive toy sales. Oh yeah, and they sell some comic books too. And with the impending purchase of Fox, there’s going to be a bunch of new toys for boss Kevin Feige to play with. And yes, he’s still going to be the man in charge of the superhero division.
READ MORE: Disney-Fox Merger: What Does It Mean For The Big Film Franchises?
“I think it only makes sense. I want to be careful here because of what’s been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn’t be two Marvels,” Iger says, explaining why Feige will remain the leader.
This opens up the question — will fans see the foul-mouthed, decidedly R-rated Deadpool as an Avenger? The Disney executive says, “Kevin’s got a lot of ideas. I’m not suggesting that’s one of them. But who knows?”
Now, it hasn’t been all puppy dogs and rainbows over at Disney in recent months. Even with Marvel Studios ruling the box office and the Mouse House looking as invincible as ever, there have been a few very unflattering stories that have garnered headlines throughout 2018. Most notably, the respective dismissals of both Roseanne Barr (after a racist tweet, and general craziness) and James Gunn (due to some inappropriate tweets from a decade ago). These firings were met with debate, as both Gunn and Barr were responsible for major film and TV franchises, “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Roseanne,” respectively.
READ MORE: Dave Bautista Hints At Potential ‘Avengers 4’ Changes In Light Of James Gunn Firing
Even with the controversy surrounding those firings, Iger explains that there was no debate over at Disney. “I would say there is a blend of my helping to make the decision to my supporting the decisions that have been made. Roseanne was completely unanimous. We discussed how it would be communicated and when because there were a number of entities that had to be properly filled in, but the decision was completely unanimous. The James Gunn decision was brought to me as a unanimous decision of a variety of executives at the studio and I supported it,” explains Iger.
Earning less headlines was Disney’s parting with Pixar leader John Lasseter after he became the center of his own #MeToo sexual harassment situation. Iger discussed how his removal has led to a new view on how to manage employees, “I don’t want to talk about anybody, specifically, but it’s critical for us as leaders in this industry to create safe environments for people who have been victims of abuse to speak up and feel safe about speaking up and for others who have witnessed abuse to do the same. It’s critical.”
But all that stuff is in the past, and when you hear Iger talk about what Disney is working on now, it’s with a keen eye towards the future. He notes that there are three ways that the studio can compete in this ever-changing marketplace.
“The first is make great content. And this is very relevant to the Fox acquisition. The second is to be incredibly innovative about how you bring that content to market. By the way, there isn’t a better example than Netflix. The third is to be truly global in nature,” he explains.
Obviously, those last two parts are hinting towards the incoming Disney streaming service that’s expected to launch in the second-half of 2019. Not much is really known about what the studio has planned. However, what we do know is the Mouse House is spending a lot of money, and it’s bringing in the biggest franchises to help launch the service. So, is Disney trying to outspend Netflix? Or are they going with the boutique idea that HBO seems to prefer?
The answer is — a little bit of both.
“I’m impressed with what has been accomplished at Netflix and Amazon. But none of them is either Disney or Marvel. Or Pixar. Or ‘Star Wars’ or National Geographic or FX or Searchlight or ‘Avatar’ — I could go on. So we enter the business that they’re in, in many respects, with an advantage from a content perspective that will enable us to focus on quality rather than just volume,” says Iger.
He continues, “They’re a volume play with a lot of quality within their volume. And we’re gonna be a quality play with enough volume and enough scale to provide the consumer with a good price-to-value relationship.”
That means that the Disney streaming service is still a bit of a mystery. But it sounds like the studio is going to stick with their franchises to lure people into subscribing and then keep them there with the combined film and TV libraries of Fox and Disney. Sound strategy, to say the least.
All that being said, it looks like 2019 is going to be an interesting year for Disney.