Disney boss Bob Iger admits studio “made too many” Marvel sequels

The studio head has made a huge admission following the latest superhero movie’s disappointing box office result.

Disney boss Bob Iger has admitted to a critical mistake when it comes to the Marvel franchise.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has some ideas about what led to the The Marvels’ lacklustre performance at the box office last month.

While speaking at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit earlier this week, Iger explained that the movie was “shot during covid,” which meant “there wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what’s being done day after day after day,” per CNBC.

He also reportedly acknowledged that the company has “made too many” sequels over the past few years.

“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to continue to make them,” Iger said. “We’re making a number of them right now, as a matter of fact. But we will only greenlight a sequel if we believe the story that the creators want to tell is worth telling.”

Disney CEO Bob Iger. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

Brie Larson stars in The Marvels. Picture: Marvel Studios

The Marvels isn’t the only Disney movie to perform below expectations at the box office this year. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny also underperformed, making 2023 the first year since 2014 that Disney hasn’t had a billion-dollar release, aside from the pandemic.

But Iger admitted it might be time for the company “to get more realistic” about their expectations.

“I’m not sure another studio will ever achieve some of the numbers that we achieved,” Iger said. “I mean, we got to the point where if a film didn’t do a billion dollars in global box office, we were disappointed. That’s an unbelievably high standard and I think we have to get more realistic.”

Kathryn Newton as Cassandra "Cassie" Lang and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Picture: Jay Maidment/Marvel

The Marvels opened to USD$47 million (A$70 million) when it premiered in November, but suffered a 78 per cent drop in sales by its second weekend, earning only USD$10.2 million (A$15.3 million). It’s since netted a total of $76 million.

Actress Iman Vellani, the Marvel newcomer who teams up with Brie Larson’s hero in this instalment, recently addressed the movie’s box office performance.

“I don’t want to focus on something that’s not even in my control, because what’s the point?” she told Yahoo Entertainment.

“That’s for Bob Iger.”

She maintained that the box office “has nothing to do with me,” saying, “I’m happy with the finished product, and the people that I care about enjoyed the film. It’s genuinely a good time watching this movie, and that’s all we can ask for with these films. It has superheroes, it take place in space, it’s not that deep and it’s about teamwork and sisterhood. It’s a fun movie, and I’m just so happy that I can share it with people.”

The Marvels is now playing in theatres.

This article originally appeared in Decider and was reproduced with permission.