Disney has ‘killed a few projects’ amid Marvel superhero movie implosion, says CEO Bob Iger – but we’ve not been ‘so public about it’

Disney has quietly killed “a few” film projects as it tries to recover from a string of underperforming films, both at the box office and in reviews.

CEO Bob Iger told investors that the entertainment giant was focused on making quality films that audiences would want to see.

Superhero films like The Marvels and last year’s Ant-Man sequel lost money, along with other new releases Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Haunted Mansion were also panned by critics, the latter with a particularly poor Rotten Tomatoes average of 37 percent.

Iger said Disney has “already killed a few projects that we felt weren’t strong enough” as it tried to back the most promising projects.

‘You have to kill things you no longer believe. And that’s not easy in this business. Because whether you have started, you have some… costs,” he told an investor conference.

‘It is a relationship with your employees or with a creative community. And it’s not easy. But you have to make tough decisions.

“We actually made those tough decisions. We haven’t been that public about it.’

Iger gave no indication as to which projects were dumped, but insisted it was only because they did not meet his lofty standards.

‘You have to look at everything you make, what you believe in. And you have to take the position that good is not good enough. You basically have to strive for perfection,” he said.

Box office disappointment for Ant-Man and The Marvels led some to claim the studio is suffering from “superhero fatigue” among audiences with too many films per year.

Last year, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania became the rare Marvel failure

The Marvels also scored 62 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but only earned $206 million while meeting a breakeven target of $439.6 million

Iger has said that Disney has “already killed a few projects that we felt weren’t strong enough” as it tried to back the most promising projects

However, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 last May and Black Panther 2 in November 2022 both made healthy profits in the same period. Guardians of the Galaxy has made an estimated $250 million in profits.

“It’s not audience fatigue. They want great movies. And if you build it right, they will come,” Iger said.

‘You have to put things in the pipeline that you really believe in. And we know we’re working on that too.’

The studio boss previously said that the Disney+ streaming platform being flooded with MCU TV shows had an impact on The Marvels’ box office.

Iger noted that the Marvel franchise made $30 billion from 33 films and that there was a need to return to that trend in the future.

He said the studio needed to work more closely with filmmakers and “engage in a respectful process that leads to improvement,” and give them more time and money to improve quality.

The past two years have seen high-profile blockbuster flops for films based on Disney properties that should be profitable on paper.

Haunted Mansion, based on the Disney World attraction, had a Rotten Tomatoes score of 37 percent and earned $117 million against a production budget of $150 million — not to mention much more marketing spend

Jungle Cruise, also based on a ride, was better received by critics by 62 percent, but earned only $221 million – far less than the $600 million needed to break even

Haunted Mansion, based on the Disney World attraction, had a Rotten Tomatoes score of 37 percent and earned $117 million against a production budget of $150 million — not to mention much more marketing spend.

Jungle Cruise, also based on a ride, was better received by critics by 62 percent, but earned only $221 million – far less than the $600 million needed to break even.

The Marvels also scored 62 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but only earned $206 million while meeting a breakeven goal of $439.6 million.

Ant-Man‘s results were even worse, panned by critics by 46 percent on RT and below its $600 million breakeven from $476.1 million.

This was made worse by the fact that the film’s co-star Jonathan Majors beat his girlfriend weeks after the film was released and was later convicted of assault.

Live-action remakes of Disney classics like The Little Mermaid and Mulan also underperformed, although they received positive critical responses.