Disney CEO Bob Iger Addresses the Problem of Releasing “Too Many Sequels.

Summary:

• Disney CEO Bob Iger admits that they have made too many sequels and that has caused audience fatigue.
• However, he has declined to apologize for the same because of the exponential success that some sequels have witnessed.
• This obsession with sequels is due to the fact that Disney doesn’t want to fix what isn’t broken.

Disney CEO Bob Iger addresses the production giant’s recent explosion of sequels. Since its foundation, the studio has found incredible success by creating original live-action or animated creatives. 

However, those creative juices have dried up lately as the company has resorted to mostly making sequels and live-action versions of animated films. This has also led to Disney creatives struggling at the box office for quite some time now.

According to The Wrap, Disney boss Bob Iger addressed this concern during a Q&A session at the New York Times Dealbook conference. Although Iger declined to put forward any apology, he accepted that the studio might’ve made too many sequels. Read what he said: 

I think I don’t want to apologize for making sequels. Some of them have done extraordinarily well. And they’ve been good films too. I think there has to be a reason to make it, beyond commerce. You have to have a good story. And we have made too many. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to continue to make them.

Hollywood, as a whole, has been guilty of making too many sequels lately without focussing on something new. However, Disney’s releases in the last few years have been severely underwhelming and have resulted in huge losses for the company. 

In 2023 alone, the company lost around $900 million in revenue due to the box-office failures of films like Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and the remake of The Little Mermaid. 

One of the most obvious reasons for the influx of remakes is that Disney doesn’t want to change what has worked for the studio in the past.

One prime example is the Toy Story franchise. The first film was a blockbuster hit way back in 1995, and the subsequent sequels have been equally successful. Their latest film, Toy Story 4, grossed over a billion dollars around the globe! 

However, the studio seems to be unfazed by the criticism. Disney has already announced that it will release several sequels in the near future, such as Inside Out 2, Deadpool 3, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Mufasa: The Lion King, Captain America 4, Zootopia 2, and more instalments of Avatar. 

Given the apparent lack of enthusiasm from the viewers for these sequels, it might be wise for the studio to explore new avenues before it is too late.

What do you think about this war between sequels and original ideas? Comment your thoughts down below!