JWR
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Posts posted by JWR
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New WSJ article with some interesting tidbits:
QuoteHis first major rupture with Mr. Iger came just weeks later. Mr. Iger wanted to delay any Covid-related staff cuts until the Cares Act, a massive spending bill being debated in Congress meant to blunt the pandemic's economic impact, was signed into law. That way, laid-off Disney employees could take advantage of its protections, Mr. Iger argued, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Chapek wanted to move more quickly with layoffs, these people said. At the time, many CEOs felt enormous pressure to cut costs and preserve cash.
Mr. Iger overruled Mr. Chapek, these people said, and convinced the board that it was better to wait. Then-President Trump signed the bill into law in late March, and Disney began to furlough tens of thousands of workers in April. Mr. Chapek was infuriated, some of these people said, and complained to deputies he was being undermined from the minute he was promoted.QuoteMr. Iger felt Mr. Chapek, who set ambitious goals for the growth of Disney's streaming business, had given priority to that business at the expense of other parts of Disney, like cable television and the theme parks. Mr. Chapek said in 2020 the number of subscribers was growing fast, and he dramatically boosted initial growth projections. Mr. Iger thought Mr. Chapek's projections went too far, according to people familiar with Mr. Iger's thinking.
Mr. Iger also felt that Mr. Chapek was too responsive to changes in Disney's share price, and Mr. Iger was alarmed by increases in prices at Disney theme parks that Mr. Chapek argued would boost revenue and limit overcrowding, these people said. Mr. Iger received calls from creative executives frustrated with Mr. Chapek, people familiar with the matter said.-
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11 minutes ago, grey ghost said:
I worry that 2 years isn't long enough for Iger's impact to be noticeable.
Failing that, Iger and/or the board could extend. But we'll have to wait and see.
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14 minutes ago, BadOlCatSylvester said:
Iger has his work cut out for him for the next two years. The Disney brand lost a lot of value under Chapek, and the numbers for Strange World prove it. That movie, as an original science fiction piece, was always a tough sell even without the rainbow elephant ithe room. Add in the Disney+ stigma, and you have yourself the next John Carter.
Disney needs to put something, anything in that Christmas 2023 slot previously reserved for Rogue Squadron. They'd be crazy to rely on an animated movie as their sole Thanksgiving and Christmas vehicle next year. At least Strange World's failure will be washed away by Avatar 2 the very next month. They have no failsafe in case Wish also bombs. Move up one of your early 2024 tentpoles there. It's not like Aquaman 2's going to be much of a threat when the DC brand is an absolute joke.
Wish is celebrating Disney's 100th anniversary. They need to knock that one out of the park.
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3 minutes ago, grey ghost said:
He forced Pixar movies to go straight to streaming, killing the brand.
I'd say he diluted or even damaged the brand more than he "killed" it. Regardless, work will need to be done to fix that.
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3 minutes ago, John Marston said:
Nah movies like Lightyear and Strange World just looked unappealing. They would have flopped no matter what
You're not wrong, but Chapek putting the last 3 Pixar movies on Disney+ and enforcing a 30 day theatrical window for Encanto now diluted both brands.
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3 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:
I know folks like to throw the word "bomb" around here, but Strange World under DC Super Pets and Bad Guys 3 day OWs (of $23Mish) and with its $135M production budget, would probably finally qualify.
Disney probably saw this coming a mile away...and thus the Chapek ax, b/c this one is fully on him.
The 30 day window will only keep hurting this movie, since it has no hope of getting Christmas holiday money to save it, giving all animated money in late December to Puss in Boots...
It's weird when you see the train wreck coming, but then it arrives, even though you were hoping it wouldn't...
Although this entire Thanksgiving weekend doesn't look great - it may be more evidence of inflation and rising ticket prices killing GA/family attendance...
Variety posted an article showing its budget was closer to $180M, which is even worse...
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1 minute ago, grey ghost said:
You can thank Chapek.
Who will almost definitely be thrown under the bus for this...
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5 minutes ago, excel1 said:
Supposedly Iger and co. handpicked Chapel back in 2018 and told him so. What the hell were they thinking? Or is this a classic case of Chapek taking on the role and thinking he needs to charge part of who he is while the board expected him to be the same?
I think all of the people Iger wanted to succeed him left overtime. He handpicked Chapek and tried to show him the ropes, but Chapek didn't like the idea of Iger holding his hand and set out to so it his way.
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They're gonna take a huge bath with this:
"That’s a problem because animated films tend to come with hefty price tags — closer to $180 million for “Strange World” -
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5 hours ago, Porthos said:
Like, I thought one of the reasons they brought Iger back was to resuscitate the stock price so they weren't in danger of being bought!
There's a real difference between being bought in a hostile takeover and selling on your own terms, sure. But this smack of either wishful thinking or trying desperately to look for an angle.
As for "multiple people believe", as Morieris noted, this rumor has been going around for literally a half a decade, if not longer, so of course there's people who think that's the endgame here. But I wasn't particularly inclined to believe it a few months ago and I'm even less inclined to believe it now.
Yeah, this rumor about Apple buying Disney has been rumor for a long time and I don't see it happening now, either. I do however think getting Chapek out of there was important for not having the company look like a target for a buyout.
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14 minutes ago, Potiki said:
Something small or well run and doesn’t overlap with Disney too much, such as a video game developer, could be done without issue . Something bigger he would likely have to extend his contract ( which I personally think will happen anyway, the contract extension not necessarily the big deal) as part of that deal, similar to what happened with 20th Century/the launch of Disney+.
I say there's a 50/50 chance he stays on longer than 2 years.
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2 minutes ago, Potiki said:
They very likely don't want to and thus won't sell.
There has also been rumours going around they will buy Netflix, WBD (LOL) some gaming companies (possibly the most likely) but if any of these were on the trajectory of happening it would be in very very early stages considering Iger has only been CEO for 2-3 days and is very busy changing some things and having meeting with the top people in the company ... I highly doubt he is had time to propose either a sale or an acquisition.
I don't know if Iger even has the time to plan on buying anything.
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1 hour ago, Toruk Makto XXR said:
With all the debt Disney had taken on after buying Fox? I doubt it.
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6 minutes ago, Potiki said:
Not in terms of sacking but probably trying to get Peter Rice and Zenia Mucha.
If Zenia comes back that probably means Kristina Schake will be gone, she is a fairly new hire who only joined in April:
Peter Rice could fit anywhere in TV or Film given his history I could see him becoming a co head on the film side along with Alan Bergman (pretty much replacing Alan Horn who retired and now has an advisor role at WBD)
So probably more of a "getting the band back together" type deal
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14 minutes ago, shachi86 said:
Star Wars X
Maybe. But I mean in terms of who's getting the axe next.
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I'm most curious to see what big moves happen next...
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Dang, they planned this thing out like it was a mafia hit.
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4 hours ago, filmlover said:
This is delicious. I demand a movie or miniseries about all of this.
FR. It's like an episode of Succession.
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Just now, AniNate said:
Really anxious to find out who's scoring this. Wouldn't mind the Dannas coming back as that was the main aspect of TGD that was beyond reproach, but also kinda hoping for someone completely out of left field like Reznor/Ross on Soul.
My guess is that they'll hire Giacchino. Personally, I'm hoping they can get Thomas Newman to do this one.
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Iger’s Sudden Return to Disney Shocks a Discontented Kingdom https://nyti.ms/3OpYepD
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I'm confident it'll look better once we see more and we've gotten used to the look.
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2 minutes ago, Macleod said:
Outta likes from this thread alone over the last 24 hours...just gotta say Hades... ☝️☝️☝️😆
So much has happened so quickly.
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Chapek's second in command just got the boot.
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The Disney Thread | Happy 90th to Donald Duck!
in Box Office Discussion
Posted
I think we could catch a glimpse of what his plans are soon.