Originally Posted By LindsayC Hollywood Reporter on John Carter- and beyond: "The sci-fi debacle opens up new questions about the studio's weak pipeline and overall movie strategy.“ <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-carter-disney-taylor-kitsch-rich-ross-300266" target="_blank">http://www.hollywoodreporter.c...s-300266</a> "....Another says Disney's top executives -- including Iger -- are paying a price for their inexperience in movies and for focusing too heavily on brands and products. "If the first thing discussed in a meeting is merchandise and sequels, you're probably going to lose money because you're not talking about the movie," he says."
Originally Posted By matthewdort Interesting article. Disney's film output has hit some pretty low spots in the last 2 decades, but right now has got to be its worst time in recent history. Rich Ross clearly should have stayed in television and I suspect his formerly stellar career at Disney will be over within a year or so.
Originally Posted By magic0214 I almost feel as if they are REALLY regretting kicking Dick Cook to the curb.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Hmmmmm... >>Some sources also say that the influential John Lasseter, head of Pixar and chief of Disney animation, has expressed concern to Iger about the lack of experience at the studio. (A rep says Lasseter "remains supportive of the team at Disney.")<< So maybe Lasseter's hands-on "ADD" approach is looking a little more reasonable...?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Very interesting read. I've said for a while that Iger's plan for the studios to only create big-budged "tentpole" films is foolish. As they said in the article, not everything is going to be a home run, but if you always get on base you'll be fine. Disney hasn't had a home run in a long time, and there simply aren't enough "at-bats" with the limited release slate to justify anything less. >>"The movie business is a brand-building business," he says. "They need fresh intellectual property to help drive the machine, and that comes primarily from the movie business."<< Iger has been all about synergy (more than Eisner, IMO) and squeezing any possible breath of any content that he can. He knows that the market is out there, and it's relatively inexpensive to make. However, he also seems to be afraid to take the risks of trying something new. In the parks, it seems like we've seen almost exclusively character-driven additions (from World of Color to Carsland to Avatar-world/land/probably-not-going-to-happen). Even the upcoming films mentioned in the article (Lone Ranger, Oz, Malelacent) are all based on well-known existing characters and stories. Although it's easy to blame Ross for the problems, it seems that he's done the best that he can with the limitations handed down from above. At a certain point, he's going to run out of existing properties to squeeze, and he'll have left the company high and dry. I sincerly hope that people catch on to his scheme long before that happens. He's announced he's leaving in 2015, but that is still plenty far away for him to do a lot of permanent damage. >>Andrew Stanton:...sources say he had a heavy hand in marketing decisions.<< Interesting, considering that the general consensus is that Pixar films all have pretty terrible trailers. The films do well despite the marketing, not because of it. So why let this guy make decisions about something that you know won't go well?
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Iger and Ross are in way over their heads here. But I don't know if Iger's ego is capable of admitting this. And regarding Dick Cook... who knows if Iger is regretting his firing. But he might now be regretting Nina Jacobson's forced departure, given how successful her Color Force studio has become. "Mr Iger, that swooshing-down-the-toilet sound you hear is The Hunger Games flushing any hope for John Carter's survival. And by the way... Hunger Games was produced by Color Force and Nina Jacobson." <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hunger-games-producer-nina-jacobson-interview-300719" target="_blank">http://www.hollywoodreporter.c...w-300719</a>
Originally Posted By oc_dean >> "....Another says Disney's top executives -- including Iger -- are paying a price for their inexperience in movies and for focusing too heavily on BRANDS and PRODUCTS...." << Gee .... what a surprise. Can I say - DUH!
Originally Posted By Manfried And I would think Andrew Stanton's star has faded a lot too. I think the day of tent pole quarter billion dollar films is going to come to an end. You can't make money at it in the age of the internet I want things cheaper era.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <Very interesting read. I've said for a while that Iger's plan for the studios to only create big-budged "tentpole" films is foolish.> If everything is tent pole, what's in the tent? Answer: nothing.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>And I would think Andrew Stanton's star has faded a lot too.<< Not so sure about that one. Aside from the bottom line, general consensus is he made a stylish movie. As an animator, he has a solid track record. And he's made it clear he's leaving all doors open for his next project. So far it's two home runs and one (admittedly big) strike.
