The global pandemic has caused massive damage to the entertainment industry, from which some players may not recover. A particularly difficult situation is observed in the movie market, where major changes are brewing.
A great example is a studio Disneyabout which we repeatedly spoke. After the record year of 2019, the entertainment giant experienced real shock therapy: most of the company’s businesses were paralyzed, stocks crashed, losses and debts increased, and more than 100 thousand employees around the world (almost half of the staff) had to be sent home without pay. As a result, the reins were forced to again intercept Bob Iger.
About the current state of affairs in the den Mickey mouse decided to tell the insider Wdw pro. Information should be taken with skepticism, but the previous news from him found partial confirmation. It’s about that Disney leadership represented by Bob Iger and Bob Capek allegedly infuriated after the team heads Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy quietly hired a former personal assistant Harvey Weinstein Lasley Headland to work on the female series in the universe “Star wars”
An official announcement of Lucasfilm’s collaboration with Hadland took place on May 5, but the press release was … unusual. The fact is that he was focused on a new full-length film, for which the director is responsible Thai Taichi (“Thor: Ragnarok“) and screenwriter Christy Wilson Cairns (“1917“). Showrunner” Matryoshka “was mentioned in passing.
So what does the new portion of the rumors say? The data is focused around the earnings report, which was announced at an online meeting on May 5. And the report was extremely unpleasant.
Failed quarter
According to official documents, Disney revenue fell to $ 18 billion. Net profit hit the 91% – from 3.53 billion dollars to 260 million dollars. The total revenue of the market segment, which includes amusement parks, amounted to only 1 billion dollars.
Earnings per share for the whole year fell from 1.61 dollars to 60 cents, which was significantly lower than forecasts (89-94 cents). At the same time, studio analysts do not exclude that in the current quarter losses in all market segments will amount to $ 1.4 billion.
However, the company believes that they are able to survive a difficult period due to the strength of brands, content and the resounding success of the streaming platform. Disney +. Revenues in the direct sales segment grew from $ 1.1 billion to $ 4.1 billion, precisely due to Disney + and Hulu.
Revenues from media networks rose to 7.3 billion dollars (+ 28%), revenues from cable networks amounted to 4.4 billion dollars (+ 17%).
The Big Brother Problem
One of the main problems for Disney was the delayed release of the film “Mulan“, which was supposed to become the largest studio in 2023. Due to the pandemic, the release date had to be postponed, and the advertising campaign was disrupted. It’s no secret to anyone that the project was created in close cooperation with representatives of China, because Mickey Mouse is interested in the Chinese audience, which rejected the original cartoon. As a result, the script “Mulan” has undergone serious revision.
A new premiere is scheduled for July 2023, but sources at WDW Pro claim that a Mulan release in 2023 is unlikely. First, it is not clear how the situation will develop in the summer, because even in Asian countries, where the pandemic has waned, cinemas are still closed. This will inevitably affect profits. In addition, Disney fears for its reputation.
Earlier Gamemag wrote that the US leadership is now trying to blame the Beijing pandemic, making it the main “scapegoat.” In particular, we are talking about an aggressive anti-Chinese information campaign, as well as a new round of trade war. However, it is foolish to think that the Chinese side will not give up, which only increases tension on the world stage.
In this situation, Mulan is a Disney vulnerability. The release of the film may turn into a real PR nightmare in the current atmosphere, because the politicians, journalists and bloggers will try to blame the pro-Chinese sympathies. You don’t have to go far for examples: examples of such articles in the media are already available.
Therefore, the scenario for postponing the date of the premiere to 2023 looks quite realistic.
Favre vs Kennedy
The second problem is related to the studio. Lucasfilmin which there is a war between the factions of Kathleen Kennedy and John Favreau. Now we can already say that the conflict between the head of Lucasfilm and the chairman of the board of directors of Disney is quite real, because Bob Iger ignored the subordinate in the memoirs released last year.
All Kennedy’s major projects have somehow failed: the new Star Wars trilogy has lost half of the audience, “Han Solo“failed miserably, a nightmare animated series Resistance closed in the second season under the hooting of fans, a pro-feminist episodic set went into oblivion Forces of destinyfollowed by the same stupid project Galaxy of adventure. Do not forget that responsibility for idiotic decisions when creating an amusement park Galaxy’s Edge also carries the head of Lucasfilm.
Against this nightmare, the figure of John Favreau looks more weighty. Under his control, the director released the series “Mandaloretz“which justified the title of flagship of the Disney + streaming platform, and also earned the recognition of critics, viewers and fans. In addition, the director demonstrates his willingness to coordinate his work with Disney management and listen to advice from Iger. This should not be surprising, because Favreau participated in the launch film universe Marvel, and also released two reboot films commissioned by Mickey Mouse (“The jungle book“and”Lion king“).
As WDW Pro notes, Kathleen Kennedy also has no creative control over the new movie of Taiki Waititi. However, it is foolish to think that this woman will give up and sprinkle ashes on her head. In particular, the insider does not exclude that the team of the head of Lucasfilm will promote the position that the director worked for Harvey Weinstein not just for one year, but only “one miserable” year in support of the series Leslie Hadland. All critics of the project will be stigmatized with the titles of misogynists, toxic trolls, and so on. A similar mechanism has been rolled around in the press and social networks over the past few years.
Kathleen Kennedy herself has already proved that even under a barrage of criticism from the fan community and pressure from the higher authorities, she can outplay Iger on his own field. This is achieved by hiring people who are personally loyal to the head of Lucasfilm. Do not forget that the plot group, which has been creating in recent years, it is not clear that Kennedy controls it.
Disney’s leadership fell into a conflict that it did not want: Hadland’s identity is too dubious to be associated with. In addition, Disney leaders fear that after working with Weinstein (whom she literally idolized), the director has incriminating evidence on Iger and his predecessor and mentor in the person of Michael Eisner.
What to do with amusement parks?
According to the preliminary plan, Disney still expects to open a theme park Magic kingdom in Florida in August 2023. However, there are several difficulties. So, the studio management monitors the dynamics of infections in densely populated states such as Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado and Texas. In addition, an indicator of the likelihood of transmission of the infection from one adult masked person to another masked person is important to Mickey Mouse.
According to statistical calculations by Disney analysts, for a standard medical mask (not N95 or higher), this figure is 1.5%, which creates too much risk. This means that a person has one chance out of 67 to catch the infection in the immediate vicinity of other people. In an amusement park, the risk is even higher, since the number of interactions in one day is much higher. The situation will not be corrected by measures on social distance and forced halving of the territory throughput. Even one infected person can turn Magic Kingdom into a new focus of infection.
There are questions to the material and technical equipment. Top managers believe that children (the main target audience of the park) will waste their masks and empty their stocks. In addition, in the hot season, the constant wearing of protective equipment will turn the life of any person into a nightmare. Therefore, insiders allow further review of the opening dates.
Hygiene at Disneyland
Headache is and Disneyland park in California. According to WDW Pro, this amusement park will remain closed for most of 2023. There is a possibility of launching the site in November-December, but the sources of the blogger (one of them works in the park) do not believe this.
You need to understand that the scale of Magic Kingdom is much smaller, so it’s easier to integrate additional visitor control systems there. In the case of Disneyland, a review of the entire infrastructure is necessary. In addition, all rides are now closed and not serviced, which increases the risk of breakdowns.
The park itself suffers from unsanitary conditions. Since most of the employees are now sitting at home without salaries, there is no one to clean the territory. As a result, picturesque blots from bird droppings decorated the paths, and all the food had to be removed due to the appearance of rats. Those few actors and employees who are still working are forced to bring breakfast and lunch with them.
Magic Kingdom and Disneyland still have one thing in common. It is about measuring the temperature of the guests. According to the estimates of the company’s analysts, it is necessary to carry out from 40 to 70 thousand checks per day, as well as provide points for a medical examination. This will be time-consuming, but can be as effective a PR move as the security framework at airports.
In addition, Iger liked the idea of revising the practice of selling tickets. We are talking about the return of passes without an expiration date. This tactic is also aimed at making people feel “safe.” Apparently, a testing ground for running the initiatives will be Disneyland in Shanghai, which should reopen the gate on May 11 (the limit on the number of visitors will be reduced from 80 thousand to 24 thousand people).
In the coming days, we will learn about the scale of the financial crisis in which Disney has found itself. However, it is foolish to believe that the company will be able to get out of the pit without loss. In addition, the question of how far Iger is ready to go for the sake of saving his reputation and his legacy remains open.
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