This amazes me.
They already had two massive franchises that were geared toward men. For 50 years, young men bought hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of costumes, toys, books, games, and other merch associated with Star Wars and Marvel.
Disney acquired these franchises at great cost, then promptly turned them into an object lesson in intersectional feminism.
From Variety:
The calls come as the Star Wars machine struggles to produce any film project and the superhero genre sheds audiences by the minute.
I wonder why the core audience feels like they aren't the target market anymore?
While two insiders say the mandate to recruit young males goes as high as the C-suite, the task primarily has fallen on David Greenbaum, the former Searchlight Pictures co-head brought on in 2024 to run Disney's live-action film business. That label has been sorely lacking in guy-leaning fare, like the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise, for nearly 10 years.
The company quickly parted ways with "Pirates" star Johnny Depp when Amber Heard accused him of abuse. Depp was found not guilty and countersued her for defamation.
To say nothing of the lackluster attempt to reboot and hand off 'Indiana Jones' in 2023, which earned $383 million worldwide on a $300 million budget before marketing costs.
Disney's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" changed Harrison Ford's beloved action hero and made him a failed, sad old man whose only purpose was to hand the reigns over to a young, strong female character.
In fact, that's been a bit of a theme at Disney...
Yes, the CEO of LucasFilm famously wore a shirt that says "The Force Is Female," in case the purpose of retconning franchises to appeal to diverse females of color wasn't obvious.
When the execution is correct, Disney's sweet spot at the movies has been millennials.
You mean the last generation that watched their stuff before they went woke?
A few comments:
Good luck, Disney!
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