Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger gave a laughable explanation for the implosion of ‘woke The Marvels’ at the box office during an interview at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
‘The Marvels’ has been a massive flop for Disney, with many rejecting its woke propaganda.
The film opened with an anemic $47 million at the US box with international sales, bringing just another $63.3 for approximately $110 million.
Iger deflected the flop away from Disney.
“Quality needs attention. … It doesn’t happen by accident. Quantity, in our case, diluted quality,” Iger said.
He went on to highlight that the film’s production took place during COVID lockdowns.
“There wasn’t as much supervision on the set … where we have executives there really looking over what’s being done,” he said.
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Disney CEO Bob Iger on wokeness permeating Disney Co:
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 30, 2023
"That should not be the objective. When I came back what I've really tried to do is to return to our roots which is to remember we have to entertain first. It's not about messages… I don't want to tolerate the opposite." pic.twitter.com/q9Z5JWb8eo
“I would say, right now, my No. 1 priority is to help the studio turn around creatively,” he added.
Iger concluded that the company had made “too many” sequels after being read a letter from the late Walt Disney, who blasted movie sequels.
“I don’t want to apologize for making sequels,” Iger told him.
“We’ve made too many,” and “we have to have a reason to make it beyond commerce.”
“We will only greenlight a sequel if we believe the story the creators want to tell is worth telling,” Iger said.
Responding to questions about the company’s ‘wokeness,” Iger continued:
“That should not be the objective. When I came back what I’ve really tried to do is to return to our roots which is to remember we have to entertain first. It’s not about messages… I don’t want to tolerate the opposite.”
What’s even more bizarre is that Iger called people criticizing the company “dead wrong.”
“When it comes to taking positions about issues, I have tried really hard over the years and I’m not calling them politics because a lot of them are not politics,” he said.
“It’s sometimes what is right and what is wrong. When it comes time to taking positions I have tried really hard to apply a standard that asks, ‘Is this relevant to the company? To our people? To our company, to our shareholders?’ That’s a very important test.”
He added:
“So if we take a position on the environment, we care about the health of our planet, it’s because we believe that if the planet is not healthy it will be bad for our business,” he claimed.
“People are not going to go to theme parks if they can’t breathe the air, for instance.”
“That’s not politics. That’s business. So if anyone is accused us of being political when it comes to that, they’re just dead wrong.”
