The Walt Disney Co. is banking on a trio of pop-culture juggernauts to assist juice its backside line within the close to future.
Disney
DIS,
revealed a slew of coming sights in its earnings report Wednesday afternoon, together with the streaming premiere of Taylor Swift’s blockbuster live performance film, a sequel to the wildly standard animated film “Moana” and a strategic partnership with Epic Games Inc., the corporate behind the large hit videogame “Fortnite.”
“The stage is now set for significant growth and success,” Chief Executive Bob Iger mentioned on Disney’s name with analysts, in line with a FactSet transcript.
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“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” will stream solely on Disney+ beginning March 15, that includes 5 extra songs that weren’t featured within the theatrical or DVD releases. “Cardigan,” from Swift’s 2020 album “Folklore,” is likely one of the new songs, however Disney didn’t reveal the others.
The film was initially launched in theaters in October, and went on to set a file for the highest-grossing live performance movie of all time, incomes $260 million.
“‘The Eras Tour’ has been a true phenomenon that has and continues to thrill fans around the world, and we are very excited to bring this electrifying concert to audiences wherever they are,” Iger mentioned in an announcement.
In a shock transfer, Iger additionally introduced that “Moana 2” will hit film theaters Nov. 27. Development of a “Moana” collection for Disney+ had been introduced in 2020, however since returning as CEO in 2022, Iger has pushed for Disney’s greatest productions to debut in theaters slightly than streaming.
“This was originally developed as a series, but we were impressed with what we saw and we knew it deserved a theatrical release,” Iger mentioned on the decision.
The return of “Moana” is such a giant deal as a result of, effectively, the film remains to be a giant deal, seven years after its launch.
The authentic “Moana” reaped $687 million on the field workplace, and it was nonetheless the No. 1 streaming film on any service final 12 months, in line with Nielsen, with 11.6 billion viewing minutes. Since it began being obtainable to stream in Disney+ in 2019, “Moana” has been been considered for 880 billion minutes, Nielsen mentioned — the equal of the total film being watched 775 million instances.
Iger additionally touted a slate of different upcoming Disney releases, together with “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” “Deadpool 3,” “Alien: Romulus” and “Mufasa: The Lion King,” all coming to theaters in 2024.
Meanwhile, Disney additionally introduced a strategic partnership with Epic Games that features a $1.5 billion fairness stake. “This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of videogames and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion,” Iger mentioned.
The deal will create “a transformational video games and leisure universe that integrates Disney’s world-class storytelling into epic’s cultural phenomenon ‘Fortnite,’” Iger said, specifically pointing out “tremendous” opportunities for iconic Disney brands such as Marvel, “Star Wars,” Pixar and “Avatar.”
Iger said he was impressed by how much screentime younger audiences spend on videogames — as opposed to TV or movies — and that an IP deal with Epic was a low-risk, high-reward venture.
“Just as we take our IP from our movies and our television and have them expressed in our parks, this is a great way to do it in games,” Iger said. “It’s a option to have pores and skin within the recreation … but additionally construct a world the place we’re truly not creating an excessive amount of threat for the corporate.”
Investors apparently favored what they heard: Disney shares surged almost 7% in after-hours buying and selling Wednesday.
Source web site: www.marketwatch.com
