Disney backs away from big-budget projects

Disney backs away from big-budget projects

The Future. After a several-year boom of seemingly endless content production, the past few months have seen a huge correction in the streaming world. To reduce costs, Disney’s making major cutbacks on what they produce, and Marvel may be the first studio to feel the heat. So long, superheroes.

Leaner times
During a February 8th earnings call, Bob Iger announced changes to the company’s content lineup, primarily pruning their backlog of “extraordinarily expensive content.”

• Marvel, Disney’s most productive subsidiary, had its ambitious Disney+ show pipeline slashed from five to as few as two. Progress on projects currently under development will slow down, too.

• Conversely, the Star Wars franchise has produced less content in the past couple of years and is now getting more love from Disney, with multiple potential projects in the works. Still, these will have to respond to Disney’s new and stricter budget constraints.

• Animation — one of Disney’s strengths — performed poorly in 2022, with Lightyear and Strange World falling short of expectations. Still, Iger hopes to turn that around this year with three sequels to $1 billion animation-based brands: Toy Story, Frozen, and Zootopia.

You and me both, kid
Disney’s not the only struggling streamer. Every major industry player has to cope with dwindling profits and harsher financial constraints, so expect fewer shows.

But maybe that’s a good thing. More isn’t always better, and if streaming platforms can no longer distinguish themselves by the quantity of content produced, maybe they’ll focus on quality instead. Someone get the lights?