The world coronavirus pandemic brought down the US film industry, which turned out to be a colossus on clay feet. And the company Disney is the main outsider in a dangerous situation.
Mickey Mouse Depressed
Why do we consider the studio the main outsider in Hollywood? Because it is one of the leaders in the global film market, which in 2019 set an absolute record for world fees. Come out under the wing Mickey mouse projects collectively raised more than $ 11 billion.
But the company was extremely vulnerable to coronavirus. First of all, this is due to the takeover of the studio 20th Century Fox for an astronomical 71.3 billion dollars. The deal was a long-term investment that gave Disney access to potentially highly profitable franchises, including rights to “Alien“,”X men“,”Avatar“,”Planet of the Apes“,”The simpsons“and so on. However, the purchase left the company without an airbag.
Coronavirus infection confused absolutely all plans. And this is not only about the fact that for more than two weeks cinemas in the United States have shown zero fees. Disney was also forced to extend indefinitely the decision to close its amusement parks. As stated in the company, they are no longer confident that the sites will begin to function in April 2023, as originally planned. In addition, official shops selling various merchandise are still closed.
As for films, only in the first three months of 2023, Disney projects incurred losses of about $ 500 million. A significant part of them are associated with films released under the brand 20th Century Studiosbut the main outsider is cartoonForward“from the studio Pixar. Analysts estimate the loss from the release of animated work of the order of 238 million dollars.
The release schedule for 2023 was postponed, which disrupted advertising campaigns for films such as “Black Widow“,”New mutants“and”Mulan“. Production of other paintings has been suspended, which also generates losses. There have also been rumors of a complete freeze of activity Marvel studios.
Comic sunset
Not everything is alright with publishing. It seems that Diamond comic distributors, Marvel comics and DC Comics conspired among themselves to finally finish off the US comics industry, which has felt bad in recent years. Publishers do not want to make concessions to the owners of outlets and refuse to establish direct contact.
Moreover, priority may be given to digital sales, which will kill all interest in printed matter. Already there are reports of the closure of a number of stores, which in the conditions of the coronavirus and the absence of new products and visitors go bankrupt.
At the same time, Disney’s daughter in the face of Marvel only adds fuel to the fire. It’s about the announcement of a new line of comics New warriors, which has become a spit in the direction of consumers and stores. “Politically correct” writers and artists decided to troll the “toxic” fans by presenting a whole line of freaks based on memes:
- Obsessed with memes Screetime (Screen time), which was poisoned by “Internet gas.” Now he can see augmented reality and google information on the go.
- Gender-neutral couple of black twins Snowflake (Snowflake) and Safespace (Safe place) The first can create ice shurikens, and the second can generate protective force fields of pink color, but only if he needs to protect someone.
- Created by blood Michael Morbius goth vampire B-negative (To be negative), which loves the music of the 90s and zero.
- Obese girl Trailblazer (Pioneer / Innovator), which generally does not have superpowers. But she has a family “magic backpack” from which you can get random items.
This is not a bad April Fool’s joke – this is the company’s strategy. This mockery shocked not only ordinary comic book buyers, but also SJW activists, whom Marvel tried to appease. At the same time, the authors explicitly stated that they wanted to prick the “toxic” fans.
As a result, the publisher had to apologize, but the damage had already been done, because the retail chains and shops were given a clear signal that Disney did not care about the end user. Yes, comics are not an important source of income for the studio, but it was they who became the foundation for the Marvel Cinema Universe, which remains without new ideas. In addition, an additional trickle of income is blocked, which is similar to death now.
Submit a trifle, please
In such circumstances, Disney stocks literally collapsed to the bottom. The danger lies also in the fact that a pandemic and financial crisis can radically change consumer preferences.
Agency Fitch ratings Already revised the credit rating of the company from “stable” to “negative”. However, analysts still hope that the collapse will be short-term, and next year Mickey Mouse Studios will be able to catch up.
“Fitch believes that Disney has the financial flexibility and ability to withstand the effects of the coronavirus pandemic,” the agency said in a statement.
Given the difficult financial condition, Disney management decided to borrow an additional six billion dollars from the market. The company’s debt burden increased to 38 billion, the main payments on financial obligations will fall on the period 2025-2050-ies.
Other players in Hollywood also did the same. So, the corporation Comcast (Studio Universal picturesTV channel NBC) borrowed four billion dollars, and the united company, which is experiencing a black streak, ViacomCBS (TV company Cbs, Studio Paramount pictures) hopes to attract about 2.5 billion dollars.
However, questions arise for Disney management, namely the former head of the studio Bob Iger, who “resigned” very timely, taking the post of chairman of the board of directors. New CEO Bob cap, who before that showed himself not in the best way as the head of theme amusement parks.
As further developments showed, Чapek is the purely nominal head of Disney, who only had the strength to criticize Pixar for the production of endless sequels, but not Lucasfilm. At the same time, he stubbornly defends his fiefdom – theme amusement parks, to which many claims have accumulated.
Apparently, the real power is still concentrated in the hands of Iger, who was taken out of the attack by castling. This is not to say that he knew about the pandemic. However, we can assume that Disney predicted a serious collapse in revenue after the harvest of 2019.
Capek will take the brunt of himself, becoming a scapegoat. When the situation begins to improve, Iger can once again take the post of CEO, acting as a savior. This can be clearly seen due to the fact that the interview is given by the former, not the current general director.
Crisis movie
The main threat to Disney now is the further deterioration of the sanitary-epidemiological situation in the United States and other countries of the world. While people sit at home, the company’s income will be at a minimum mark. Even in China, where it was possible to localize the outbreak of COVID-19 infection, it was still not possible to restore the operation of movie theaters.
Things are going well on the streaming platform. Disney +, however, new content is not produced for it. In addition, to reduce the load on the Internet infrastructure, it was necessary to reduce the quality of broadcasts, which some customers took negatively. Releasing expensive blockbusters in digital stores right away does not compensate for the huge production costs.
If the disease declines by the summer, a new problem arises: an overabundance of releases. Most film companies have already moved their projects to the second half of 2023, or generally to 2023. Because of this, inevitably there will be a conflict of schedules and competition will increase. Yes, Disney is a mastodon, but it will inevitably affect revenue reduction.
In addition, a new financial crisis is gaining momentum, which some analysts and economists are already comparing with the Great Depression. Falling incomes will force the population to review their incomes and tighten their belts. Yes, people will need bread and circuses, so they will go to movie theaters, some of which may not survive the epidemic. But it will also hit other Disney revenue streams, including merchandise and amusement parks.
Therefore, Mickey Mouse will have to adapt to new conditions and restructure activities in order to survive in the market.
Read also: Fint with mouse ears: Bob Iger’s resignation left the head of Lucasfilm without trump cards?
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