Disney CEO Bob Iger blamed the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s recent failures on lack of executive management on-set.
He spoke Wednesday at the New York Times DealBook Summit that came on the heels of the MCU’s latest box office flop, “The Marvels.” Iger noted the on-set team was lacking during the peak of COVID and has continued to be a weak point. He repeated prior promises to overhaul the failing franchise by putting emphasis on the quality of upcoming projects instead of prioritizing a high volume of movie production.
Speaking of the recent trend in MCU’s declining box office sales, Iger said, “Quality needs attention … It doesn’t happen by accident. Quantity, in our case, diluted quality.”
Iger blamed the decline on restrictions imposed on the studio when COVID was running rampant.
“There wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives there really looking over what’s being done day after day after day,” he said.
“I would say, right now, my No. 1 priority is to help the studio turn around creatively,” Iger added.
“The Marvels” opened to a highly disappointing $47 million in November, marking the lowest-ever opening for an MCU movie, NBC News reported.
Iger repeated Marvel and Disney as a whole will slow down the actual number of movies they produce in favor of a smaller selection with superior quality, IGN reported. But Iger insisted making sequels had nothing to do with the downward trajectory of the MCU. (RELATED: ‘The Apprentice’ Movie Casts Marvel A-Lister To Play Donald Trump: REPORT)
“Some of them have done extraordinarily well, and they’ve been good films, too,” Iger said. “I think there has to be a reason to make them. You have to have a good story. And often the story doesn’t hold up to is not as strong as the original story. That can be a problem.”