- Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company is focusing on producing quality films.
- Iger’s statements follow a series of box office misses from the company.
- Iger also pushed back on Marvel fatigue but said that the number of movies would scale back.
Disney CEO Bob Iger is finally listening to the people’s demands and focusing on quality films — but don’t expect that to mean Marvel movies are going away.
Speaking at The Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Iger said the company is so serious about quality output that it squashed a few projects because they weren’t “strong enough.”
“You have to kill things you no longer believe in, and that’s not easy in this business because either you’ve gotten started, you have some sunk costs, or it’s a relationship with either your employees or with the creative community,” Iger said.
Instead, Iger said he’s been overseeing the production of new movies and feels “good about the IP” set to come from Disney over the next few years.
“I personally watch films three to five times with the team and just create a culture of excellence and respect, which is really important with the creative community,” Iger said.
Iger’s comments come after the CEO admitted, after a series of box office misses, that the company prioritized quantity over quality.
“Quantity can be actually a negative when it comes to quality, and I think that’s exactly what happened,” Iger said during an earnings call in November.
During the Morgan Stanley event, however, Iger combatted the idea that audiences were fatigued over certain movie genres. The comments seemed to be a response to the recent conversation around the seemingly never-ending output of Marvel movies, which has caused fans to grow tired of the MCU and other superhero franchises.
However, Iger also said that the company is scaling down on the MCU and releasing fewer movies. Iger also cited a non-Disney movie, the recent Christoper Nolan hit “Oppenheimer,” as an example of the type of great film Disney wants to produce.
“A lot of people think it’s audience fatigue, it’s not audience fatigue,” Iger said. “They want great films.”
Representatives for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.
