Disney’s Dilemma: Film Quality or Profits?

Disney is trying to cut costs and push its streaming service toward profitability. But that’s coming at the expense of its film quality.

In 2009, Disney acquired Marvel for $4.3B. Since then, it’s grossed over $22B at global box offices — becoming a cornerstone of Disney+.

Shrinking down: The latest Ant-Man film had a strong opening weekend with $104M domestically but fell 70% in the second weekend — the largest decline ever for Marvel.

Global sales are also dropping. Revenue from the recent Black Panther and Thor movies fell 36% and 11%, respectively, compared to their previous films.

Disney has a dilemma: Quality or profits?

Last year, critics called out Disney for unrealistic visual effects in several films (notably, She-Hulk).

• On its recent earnings call, CEO Bob Iger said making content has become “extraordinarily expensive.”
• Reddit users on r/VFX spoke out about their negative experiences working with Marvel and their unreasonable deadlines and intense pressure.

In the short term, investors welcome cost cuts. But what happens when those cuts erode Disney’s magic? We get this.

The solution? Generative AI in film-making.