Disney’s Feb 7 Earnings Call Impressions
Fellow travelers within the cabal are circling the wagons around Bob Iger with a view to preventing Nelson Peltz and Jay Rusulo from getting on the Disney BOD. These weren’t softball questions, these were T-ball questions. Clearly they had been instructed about that which they could and could NOT ask questions about.
The closest thing to a hard hitting question was, what are you going to do about the film business? Iger replied with what I think is the most terrifying answer possible for a Disney investor, he is now personally devoting his time to the movie studios.
He briefly acknowledged that there were some failures and then sailed on to claim there some successes. The only examples he could provide were Guardians 3 and Avatar 2. Some disappointments Bob? Disney Studios was a bomb factory last year. Guardians made less than $100 million, possibly less than $50 million, Avatar 2 was released in December of 2022 and Disney didn’t have a damn thing to do with making it.
He is “very confident” which is to say he is praying fervently to whoever he sold his soul to that the following movies will make money. Inside Out 2 (questionable without Lassetter), Planet of the Apes (the last outing made $200 million less than the previous film and none of them have come anywhere near the $1 billion mark) and Dead Pool 3 (a dead end, the MCU goes right back to the money losers with Agatha and Iron Heart).
He bragged about Moana 2 being in the theaters in time for Thanksgiving. Iger admitted this was a TV movie that they are shoveling into distribution. The director, David Derrick has no previous credits as a director. The producer is Jennifer Lee, who has allegedly trainwrecked the writer’s room). The Rock wasn’t signed when this started but I expect they’ll drag him into the recording booth. This reeks of desperation, they realized they had nothing for a Thanksgiving release which has been Disney’s property for decades. The stupid part is that they are risking damage to the Moana franchise by putting a straight to video movie in the theaters.
There is also a rurmor that the Live Action Lilo and Stitch, which definitely was a TV show, is allegedly also being sent to the theaters as well. But Iger did not confirm this, which would indicates it’s so bad even Disney noticed.
Nothing solid on the parks, it was blue sky and unicorn farts. What could he really say? We have abandoned the parks to Universal, just accept the new reality?
He’s also is promising more sequels. Nothing says we are just chock full of originality than promising more sequels.
He did mention that he was astonished at how popular them there video gaming things have become. Disney paid Epic an epic $1.5 billion as a buy in. He is still a believer in virtual Disney World. Which the buy in with Epic is all about.
This is retarded, Disney can not make video games. They just can’t. Their entire corporate culture couldn’t be more corrosive to video game development. You can not micromanage video games into success. Especially the way they micromanage projects.
At the end of the day Iger’s plan is the only plan he’s ever had. Spend too much money to buy the stuff other people create.
Since becoming CEO of Disney in 2005. Bob Iger has spent $150 billion of stockholder money.
What does he have to show for it? A company that is reeling from one failure after another, after another.
I’ll do a better job unpacking this tomorrow if I get the time.
For now, I’m done here.
