Disney Headlines for July 6th, 2023
Disney faces another lawsuit, while Indiana Jones fans got old.
Let’s forget about fireworks and picnics long enough to talk about Disney Headlines!
Indiana Jones and the Inability to Turn Back Time
In 1989, Steven Spielberg directed one of his greatest movies ever, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
The 68-year-old Sean Connery appeared to choose this project as his de facto swan song.
His work as Henry Jones, father of Indiana, proved so popular that he decided to keep going for another 14 years.
Meanwhile, Harrison Ford happily retired his hat and whip…for a time.
In 2008, Ford relented and reluctantly returned in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a decision he ultimately regretted.
For the body of a decade, Ford lamented that he’d left Indiana Jones in decline and hoped one day to return for a fitting conclusion.
Unexpectedly, that opportunity arose in 2016 when Spielberg settled on a new story.
Ford was 74 years old at the time, six years older than Connery when he appeared in Last Crusade. Those Jones boys are long in the tooth.
Alas, Hollywood nonsense delayed the project and eventually forced Spielberg to move on. Ford stayed.
COVID-19 shut down Hollywood and closed productions, preventing a new Indy movie from filming for more than a year.
Indy’s Awkward Aging Problem
During the seven years from the announcement of Indiana Jones 5 to its release, the target audience kept getting older.
Friends, Last Crusade came out 34 years ago. Many of you reading this aren’t 34. As such, you have no idea why some of us relish these stories.
We learned this fact empirically over the weekend, as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny debuted to an underwhelming $130 million in global box office.
Reports suggest that the film cost as much as $300 million to create. It’s gonna bomb.
That’s not the interesting part to me, though. Instead, it’s the audience scores.
One metric that measures opening weekend audience response caught something I’ve never seen before.
The Dial of Destiny favorability scores increased with every five years of view age.
In other words, a 34-year-old liked the movie more than a 29-year-old but not as much as a 39-year-old.
The highest scores came from people aged 50 and over. At the risk of dating myself, I gave Dial of Destiny an 8.5 out of 10.
That seems to be the pattern here. The people who love the movie the most are the ones who remember a time before cell phones.
In short, Disney simply waited too long to produce this particular story. It’s simply not meant for younger viewers, and they can tell.
The Latest Disney Lawsuit
In early 2022, I discussed an activist investor issue Disney faced. At the time, Arjuna Capital asked Disney to lead by example.
Arjuna requested the following:
“Shareholders request Disney report on both median and adjusted pay gaps across race and gender, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining diverse talent.”
Soon afterward, Disney shareholders went against the company’s advice and accepted this proposal.
Now, Disney transparently provides pay equity data to the general public. And we’ve learned why the company didn’t want to do that.
Attorneys have filed a class action lawsuit against Disney, using the company’s own data against it.
Specifically, the suit claims that Disney has “systematically underpaid women, depriving female employees of more than $150 (million) in wages in California since 2015.”
If true, that’s a violation of California’s Equal Pay Act, one for which Disney is financially liable. That’s why it’s a class action suit.
Disney would owe a lot of former/current female employees back pay and presumably some interest as well.
How This Lawsuit Impacts Disney
Let’s be clear that $150 million is probably higher than Disney would ever need to pay, even if it lost in court. Also, it’s just not a lot of money to the company.
I’ll add that compared to some of the more egregious businesses I’ve covered over the years, Disney’s pay structure wasn’t that bad.
Yes, that’s easy for me to say as an outsider, and it’s also hypocritical as I feel rage anytime I remember pay inequalities my wife and other women have faced in their careers.
So, I’m not lacking in sympathy here or arguing in favor of an old boy’s club. In fact, I’m first in line to tear Wall Street down and start from scratch.
My point is more than Disney’s own data indicates that it’s paying women 98 percent of what it’s paying men.
While indefensible, that’s not as bad as you had expected, right?
Disney has unquestionably shortchanged about 10,000 female employees about two percent, and I think most of us would like the company to do right by them.
My biggest takeaway from this whole story isn’t about the pay itself, though. It’s how Disney knew Arjuna Capital was asking it to open Pandora’s Box.
Once the data went public, Disney found itself vulnerable to legal action. So, the company’s instincts were correct, while the shareholders hurt their own cause here.
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Feature Photo: Disney