Disney Is Broken

Disney had a lock on intellectual property that appealed to women and girls, namely the Disney princesses. They wanted to branch out, and so they bought Marvel and Lucasfilm. And immediately turned them into (bad) girl brands. Now they have a plan to fix that.

From Variety we get the following. Disney’s Boy Trouble: Studio Seeks Original IP to Win Back Gen-Z Men Amid Marvel, Lucasfilm Struggles

Leadership at Walt Disney Studios has been pressing Hollywood creatives in recent months, multiple sources tell Variety, for movies that will bring young men back to the brand in a meaningful way. “Young men” is defined here by sources as ages 13-28, aka Gen Z.

They are not alone in that, every studio is trying to appeal to that demographic, but they just aren't interested in movies.

Why is that? Here are a few reasons:

• Movies are too expensive
• Movies for about the past 10 years have been saying men are toxic
• Movies for that same era are all about the Girlboss.

The article mentions Star Wars, and Pirates of the Caribbean as stagnant franchises. I will say they are dead. Then there is this...

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.

Indiana Jones and the Insufferable Feminist is a perfect example of what they have done to the other franchises. In fact, the treatment given to Dr. Jones, mirrors almost exactly the treatment given to Luke Skywalker. He is old and bitter, and defeated by life, are replaced by a Mary Sue, Girlboss who is better at everything than the old male hero ever was. The only thing those Girlbosses can't do is sell movie tickets.

If you read the article, you will see that what they are doing, has little hope of working, because they are not going to clean house (how do you spell "Kathleen?") of the people who broke this stuff.

There are other reasons that Gen Z isn't going to the movies. Some are economic. Some are cultural. Does anyone remember date night, or dinner and a movie? That doesn't really work if all the movies are three and a half hours long, and cost a week's salary for the movie and a drink. Then throughout the MeToo era, guys can't ask a woman out or he would be a "creep." Add in the Lockdowns, which killed the whole idea of going out, and Gen Z has very little dating experience.

The hat tip goes to Yellow Flash and his video FAFO! Insiders say Disney is DESPERATE to win back MEN after KILLING Star Wars and Marvel!

This is crazy to me. Like you had the IP. You ruined them. You spent billions on them. This is wild.

And by the way, Star Wars. I mean, just search the force is female and it explains itself.

Apparently everyone at Disney wants to forget The Acolyte, and the lesbian, space witches, contrasted with the shipping of the bad guy and the female lead.

His video is 17 minutes long, or so.

That Park Place has a take on this whole thing. Disney Scrambles to Win Back Men and Boys After Driving Them Away from Marvel and Star Wars

That Park Place made the point that Variety is a shill organization - not the words they use - that just pushes the party line. If they are reporting on this issue, then the marching orders are coming from the highest level in Disney. And then there is the self-inflicted wound.

Original IP or Corporate Panic?

This new Disney directive to develop original stories for young men and boys should, in theory, be welcome news. After all, Hollywood desperately needs fresh ideas. But the timing reveals just how reactionary this strategy is. For years, the company dismissed fan concerns as toxic or backward. Now, as profits falter, the same audience they mocked has suddenly become essential again.

They laughed at comic book nerds. They forgot that the nerds are the ones that paid for everything. They were the people buying the merch, seeing the movies multiple times, and they turned up their noses at that money. Now suddenly they want to get that money back.

Getting that trust back will be hard, because everyone, starting with the nerds, and moving down to the normal movie-going public, doesn't believe that these movies are good, or ever will be good again.

If you're interested in movies, That Park Place has some good coverage of what is going on in that industry. Their coverage of amusement parks, Disney, Universal, etc., is unmatched.

All the usual YouTube creators are chiming in. Nerdrtotic and Critical Drinker have videos, as does Midnight's Edge.