Disney’s Bob Iger said the company has no real priority of sequels and reboots over original properties, but acknowledged the popularity of older IP remains “significant” on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday.
When asked about the studio’s content mix between originals and IP-driven projects, Iger said the company is still focused on “creating new IP” as a “long-term value” for Disney, but noted mining familiar properties has proven successful.
“We also know that the popularity of our older IP remains significant, and the opportunities to either produce sequels or to basically bring them forward in a more modern way, as we’ve done, or convert what was previously animation to live action, like we’re doing with ‘Moana’ in 2026, it’s just a great opportunity for the company and supports our franchises.”
But Iger contended there’s no preference one way or the other.
“I wouldn’t say that we’ve got a priority one way or the other. Our priority is to put out great movies that ultimately resonate with consumers and the more we can find and develop original property, the better,” he said.
The CEO specifically pointed to the 20th Century Studios and Searchlight banners as homes for original projects, which has increasingly been the case as Disney proper doubles down on franchises and redos.
Indeed, 20th Century has the original dramedy “Ella McCay” releasing this December, heist thriller “Eenie Meanie” going straight to Hulu later this month and is behind the Jeremy Allen White-led Bruce Springsteen biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.”
Searchlight Studios, meanwhile, continues to be a home for Disney’s prestige films and Oscar players like last year’s “A Real Pain” and the upcoming “The Roses” and “Rental Family.”
And while Pixar launched the original animated film “Elio” earlier this year, the next three Marvel movies on the slate are sequels following box office disappointments “Thunderbolts*” and “The Fantastic Four.” Although, Iger made the case that something like “Fantastic Four,” in his eyes, is original to many.
“You could even argue that Marvel continues to mine its library of characters for original property,” he said. “Even though, for instance, there have been ‘Fantastic Four’ movies before, we kind of consider the one that we did an original property in many respects, because we’re introducing those characters to people who are not familiar with them at all.”
