Bob Iger Brings Disney Back to China
After years of an increasingly icy relationship, tensions between the Walt Disney Company and China maybe the thawing.
Disney has denied that Bob Iger is the man behind the improved relations between the company and global power. However, rival executives can’t help but notice the coincidence between the timing of Iger’s return and China’s willingness to do business with Disney.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Disney Is Back At the Box Office
Two days after Iger’s surprising return to the Disney helm the company, things changed. Disney announced that Avatar: The Way of Water had landed a coveted release in China. Even more surprising, however, was that the film received a release extension, which allowed it to run through February 14. The film would gross over $240 in China during its run.
Source: 20th Century Studios
In a similar turn of events, recent Marvel releases Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania were allowed access to China’s box office. For the previous four years, Marvel films had been denied access by the country.
Self-Censoring For China
As with other large American corporations who look to do business with China, Disney has been willing to sacrifice principles.
For example, a recent episode of the Simpsons, which took a shot at the country’s human rights record, never made it to Disney+ in Hong Kong.
In the episode, a virtual tour guide tells Marge, “Behold the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones.
Iger’s Expertise
Although Iger’s predecessor Bob Iger was able to get a few Disney movies released in China, the relationship between Disney and the country grew frosty in recent years.
Photo: Disney
Bob Iger however, is no stranger to negotiating with Beijing. The CEO brought Disney Parks to Shanghai and Hong Kong during his first tenure and told friends that at one point he was considering a diplomatic post in China for the Biden administration.
While Hollywood insiders see improved access to Chinese markets as a good thing, not everybody is convinced.
Photo: Hollywood Reporter
Iron Man 3 co-producer Chris Fenton, who is the author of Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, & American Business, thinks that Hollywood is making a mistake.
“Beijing knows market leverage fosters strength, so some official likely said, ‘Hey, we haven’t given Hollywood much access lately. [If] we do that much longer, studios will stop doing what we tell them and fearing what we may,’” Fenton explains. “Beijing will lose crucial sway in how filmmakers portray China globally in their films.”
Photo: InsideHook
While the morality of Disney’s decision to play ball with China is certainly debatable, there is no doubt that things have shifted since Iger’s return. How far that relationship takes Disney, remains to be seen.
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