I've been critical of Disney (NYSE: DIS) when it comes to some of the Mouse's moves in terms of content development. But, when I see something I approve of, I have no problem highlighting my feelings about it. Today is just such a day.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney does not want to help Walden Media make the next picture in the Chronicles of Narnia franchise. The studio teamed up with the production company on The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, as well as the second feature, Prince Caspian. Although I'm certain that there will be Caspian DVDs under a lot of Christmas trees this holiday, I, along with everyone else, noticed back in the summer that the film delivered disappointing results at theaters. And then, Disney CEO Bob Iger tried to make excuses about the bad performance (CEOs are always trying to make excuses about one thing or another, it seems). Now, though, Iger is done synthesizing reasons for the failure of Caspian. Instead, he's passing on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and I congratulate him on his decision.

Continue reading Disney made the right decision in exiting the 'Narnia' franchise

Disney made the right decision in exiting the 'Narnia' franchise originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier in the month, I caught an interesting article from on Reuters about Disney (NYSE: DIS) and its movie division. The president of Disney Studios, Alan Bergman, speaking at a conference, stated that profit margins have jumped five-fold at the studio. The reasons behind this success include an aggressive attack on costs and a streamlined film slate. Instead of releasing a whole boatload of features, why not focus on Disney-branded flicks? That's what Disney has been doing, making bigger bets on a smaller number of projects. Things have been going so well that Bergman said that it was conceivable that the Mouse might not need to seek partnerships with funding entities to spread a portion of the risk. What this means is that, instead of offering up a percentage of celluloid profits to a funding corporation in exchange for an investment in the budgets, Disney will just pay for its movies itself and not transfer any risk. There's an obvious reason for this: Disney then gets to retain all profits instead of sharing them.

Well, it should be stated that Disney has not said that it will definitely do this. According to the article, Bergman just mentioned that it's possible that Disney could do this if it wanted to. My opinion? End outside financing. Hey, if I want to go and make a film, I'm going to have to use other people's money, I have no choice. But Disney? The company is big enough to not need any help in financing. The problem here is that human nature comes into play. When a studio division is doing poorly, then co-financing seems attractive. When a studio division is firing on all cylinders, then becoming risk-averse doesn't appear so fetching. Well, I think any media company producing films these days should really stop and try to understand the movie business for what it is. It's always going to be a risk. Doesn't matter if you have a huge star in a picture or not. It might fail either way. But when the windfall comes, when that big hit is found, you want to own 100% of the profits. This not only goes for Disney, but it applies to others such as Viacom (NYSE: VIA), General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX).

Continue reading Disney may not need to spread risk on movies, but should it do so anyway?

Disney may not need to spread risk on movies, but should it do so anyway? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm sure there are a few out there who are sick of my complaining over the failure of Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Prince Caspian film. But, I just had to write about recent comments made by CEO Bob Iger on the subject at a conference.

Okay, in Iger's mind, the reason Caspian failed is because it is a pretty competitive multiplex out there. He feels there are "too many movies being released." He also thinks the marketplace is "very delicate, very fragile." The Mouse CEO also highlighted the fact that Disney has cut back on movie production in recent years and is therefore hopefully making better decisions about the cinematic concepts it backs.

These comments sound like excuses, Bob. Sure, it's competitive out there. Marvel's (NYSE: MVL) Iron Man and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are certainly overshadowing the brand equity of Caspian. But, is that the real reason the movie performed as poorly as it did? An interesting little note in the article is that Disney originally was going to use the same releasing strategy for Caspian as it did for the first Narnia epic. The studio intended on opening the sequel during the most recent Christmas season. But, here's why it didn't: producing partner Walden Media was opening its own movie at that time, one that was being distributed by Sony (NYSE: SNE).

Continue reading Disney CEO Bob Iger offers excuses for 'Prince Caspian's' performance

Disney CEO Bob Iger offers excuses for 'Prince Caspian's' performance originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 May 2008 09:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.