Disney Headlines for April 16th, 2024
This week, people started to promote Universal Epic Universe as a threat to Disney.
Meanwhile, the Mouse reminded everyone who’s boss at CinemaCon 2024.
Don’t Call It a Comeback
One of the funniest stories I ever reported for MickeyBlog involved a temperamental Frenchman and a movie prop.
In 2020, Disney had sent theater owners a Mulan stand as a way to promote the poster.
Then, the pandemic shuttered theaters, forcing Disney to invent a plan B. Let’s just say this dude didn’t love it.
Yeah, you really showed them, tough guy.
Anyway, the act itself garnered international Headlines due to what it represented.
Theater owners perceived Disney as abandoning them during their time of need.
While Disney had every reason to take the approach it adopted, the repercussions of its decision have rippled for years now.
Let’s just say that when Disney movies disappoint at the box office, some theater owners are a bit gleeful.
They evaluate the situation as karmic justice, which is…a take.
However, the results of 2023 showed just how desperately the entire industry relies on Disney.
One of the unheralded aspects of the 2023 box office campaign was that Disney earned more per film than any other major studio.
The problem stemmed from Disney releasing fewer movies than usual, an issue that will recur in 2024.
There’s one difference between recent years and the current one, though.
At CinemaCon 2024, Disney was hailed as the conquering hero.
Theater owners made it clear that they were ready to say bygones about the previous hiccups in the relationship.
What changed everyone’s tune? The answer is, of course, a strong lineup of films.
Disney’s Killer Lineup
Before the pandemic, Disney film executives were the cockiest bunch this side of the New England Patriots.
During a previous CinemaCon event, Disney’s “presentation” was just a list of upcoming theatrical releases.
Honestly, it was a baller move, one brimming with confidence in the upcoming content calendar.
After the humbling nature of Disney’s 2023 film slate, everyone took an unpresuming approach.
Disney brought out stars like The Rock to hype films like Moana 2, underscoring the fact that the Mouse has recommitted to theatrical releases.
Audience attendants viewed more than 30 minutes of Inside Out 2, which debuts on June 14th.
Then, they watched the first nine minutes of Deadpool & Wolverine, the betting favorite to be the top movie of the year.
As highly respected industry veteran Sharon Waxman stated, “Disney might have had the fewest movies, but it has the biggest winners, and had the best presentation.”
Disney’s new theatrical approach is that less is more. In the short term, movie executives want to market everything heavily.
By taking this more personal approach, each title will feel like a heavyweight rather than an also-ran.
Apparently, that practice will start with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, as Disney failed to market The Last Omen much.
So, I’m still reluctant to say that the altered tactic will definitely succeed. I think it’s the right play in the short term, though.
As for the people at CinemaCon, they expressed relief that Disney’s upcoming slate of films looks incredible.
Everything from Inside Out to Captain America: Brave New World earned glowing accolades, albeit from short clips.
Apparently, all is forgiven, at least for now. We’ll see how long that holds since the theater business remains in dire straits.
The Perceived Threat of Epic Universe
I’ve understood that this conversation has been coming for a while now.
As an attempt to get ahead of the curve, I previously discussed how the theme park business has become a two-player game.
I also wrote the “Your Move, Disney” piece last month. Since then, Disney has most assuredly moved.
Executives have filed the paperwork to change/expand Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.
This week, possibly as early as tonight, the Anaheim City Council could approve the DisneylandForward project.
When those negotiations conclude, Disneyland Resort will be ready to expand as well.
On Thursday, Disney provided its first official announcement regarding theme park changes…but not where you’d expect.
Disneyland Paris confirmed that Walt Disney Studios Park will change its name.
The park will transition to Disney Adventure World and add new attractions and experiences.
There’s a “STOP THE PRESSES!” aspect to this announcement, but it largely fell beneath the radar for two reasons.
The first is that the American media tends to underreport Disneyland Paris events, and that’s because of the second reason.
Many Disney fans perceive Walt Disney Studios Park as one of Disney’s worst parks…and probably THE worst one to most.
As usual, Disney has taken that criticism to heart and plotted a path to improve the entire theme park.
In the process, Disney is following one of CEO Bob Iger’s recently espoused tenets.
Iger believes that it’s better to expand several theme parks modularly over time rather than building one new park.
For this reason, he just caught some flak over his comments regarding the perceived threat of Universal Epic Universe.
So, let’s talk about what happened and whether Iger is right.
It’s an Epic Universe After All
In 2025, Universal Orlando Resort (UOR) will open Epic Universe, a new theme park with five themed lands.
That’s incredible news for theme park fans, and I fully intend to check out the park next year.
Still, I have to laugh when people act like Disney has been slow to react to the new park.
As I laid out here, the reverse is closer to accurate. UOR’s past decade isn’t the greatest, and I say that as a Universal fan.
Fast & Furious: Supercharged and Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon make Alien Swirling Saucers look like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
That’s the argument Iger made, and he’s widely mocked for it, even though it’s objectively correct.
But timing is everything in the theme park industry. At the moment, the table is set for a wave of positive news at Epic Universe.
We’re seeing articles like this one, this one, and this one. When Iger counters, snickers often follow.
Folks, this Headline isn’t going away for more than a year.
The only things that could change the nature of the conversation are Disney announcing a new theme park or Epic Universe suffering a disastrous launch.
Neither of those strikes me as a likely scenario, and the media wants Universal to be perceived as a threat to Disney.
So, we’re going to be hearing about this for a while.
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Photo: Disney/Universal