I have to say, this article out of Variety announcing that Walt Disney Pictures is cutting back on the number of films it makes to around eight per year is some of the best news the industry has heard in a long time. I am not saying this specifically because it is Disney and I am also not happy to hear that the move from around 18 films to 8 is going to mean that a lot of people are going to be out of a job. No, I am saying this because it means that Disney has decided to put its effort into making quality films, not an overwhelming quantity of films.
Hmmmm, now if we could only get other studios to follow suit we won’t have to worry about movies not being screened for critics any longer since the films won’t necessarily be so bad that the studio has to hide them for fear of opening weekend box-office failure.
The Variety article contends that the move by Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook is “to reinvent the architecture of his studio. Move reflects an effort to improve the studio’s return on investment and get infrastructure back into line.” I have a feeling Mr. Cook is thinking more along the lines of not losing money on crap films such as Annapolis, Stay Alive and the dreadfully disappointing CGI pic The Wild. Speaking of The Wild, what is Disney doing making bunk CG animated flicks when they are in league with Pixar? Man, leave the computer animated work to the pros, we all what happened with Chicken Little. Yeah, the film may have managed $135 million at the box-office, but compared to the $207 mil Cars has already raked in I think we know where the money should go.
The final statement in the article leads me to believe other studios are going to jump on this wagon and ride it out:
…the move re-emphasizes the fact that studios are looking to cut costs amid increasing overhead, production budgets and marketing bills.
Yeah, this is a movie site and perhaps I should not be so quick to desire less films be made, but considering the overwhelming amount of independent films being made now days with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars I don’t think we are ever going to have a shortage of films to talk about.
Here’s to the hope of better films in the future.
