Disney CEO Bob Iger Says Company Being “Very Careful” With Future ‘Star Wars’ Movies & There’s Nothing “Inherently Off” With Marvel As A Brand

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Sonia Coleman, a 15-year Disney veteran, is taking on a new role as head of human resources. The Mouse House named Coleman as senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer of the Walt Disney Co., effective April 8. She most recently has served as SVP of human resources for Disney Entertainment and ESPN. Coleman takes over the the top HR job at Disney from Paul Richardson, who is leaving the company after more than 15 years. As head of HR, Coleman will report directly to Bob Iger, who is serving as interim CEO for a two-year term. Coleman will oversee Disney’s HR strategy, global talent acquisition, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, organizational design and cultural development, employee education and development, compensation and benefits, HR operations and technology, and global security.

Disney is promoting HR exec Sonia Coleman to Senior EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer, effective April 8 and reporting to CEO Bob Iger.

“Flowers,” Miley Cyrus rises triumphantly from the ashes of her very public — and very nasty — breakup with “The Hunger Games” actor Liam Hemsworth after just eight months of marriage in 2019.With the viral TikTok bop spending six weeks at No. 1 since it was released on Jan.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Disney CEO Bob Iger is touting “newness” when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The executive appeared at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference and questioned whether or not Marvel needs to continue churning out multiple sequels for individual characters. His comments arrived amid critical and box office disappointment for the most recent MCU tentpole, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” “Sequels typically worked well for us,” Iger said at the conference. “Do you need a third and a fourth, for instance? Or is it time to turn to other characters?” Not only is “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” one of the worst-reviewed Marvel films in history (its 48% on Rotten Tomatoes nearly matches the record-low “Eternals” score of 47%), but the film dropped a massive 69% at the box office in its second weekend, marking the second-biggest drop in MCU history. “Quantumania” currently stands at $420 million worldwide and $189 million domestically. While these grosses are higher than the first two “Ant-Man” movies, they’re also underwhelming considering “Quantumania” kicks off Phase 5 of the MCU and introduces the new Thanos-sized villain of the franchise in Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conquerer.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has revolved around a core group of character for years now. However, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger is suggesting that will change in the coming years.

Returned Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that fans had a right to be irked as theme park ticket prices crept higher under the previous regime, and said it wasn’t the best way to manage the brand.

Disney CEO Bob Iger called succession top priority as he moves to turn the company around and, with the board, name a new chief executive before the end of his two-year contract.

Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company is still being “very careful” with developing Star Wars feature films in the wake of Solo‘s soft box office, while Marvel is also getting a rethink in terms of how many sequels characters get.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Bob Iger, just over three months back as CEO of Disney, discussed major organizational changes he’s made at the company — and his optimism about making streaming, particularly Disney+, a profitable piece of the empire. “I’m generally bullish on streaming as a great consumer proposition, as a really robust platform to deliver high-quality content,” Iger said, speaking Thursday at the 2023 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco. But “we have to better rationalize our costs” and “obviously we have to attract more subs.” In addition, he said, “In our zeal to grow global subs, I think we were off in terms of our pricing strategy, and we’re starting to learn more about it.” Iger also said Disney overall had a “disconnect” between what it was spending on content and how it was monetizing that — and that the company needs to become “more judicious” about content investment.

Home and Away actress Demi Harman has announced she is expecting her first child as she shared the first glimpse at her growing baby bump.The actress shared her happy news that she's set to welcome a baby with her Disney producer husband Andrew Brooks. Posting an image of the couple posing together during a holiday to Moreton Island in Australia, Demi showcased her tummy as she cradled the bump.The 29 year old star looked over the moon as she straddled a palm tree for the snap.

Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said the media giant would of course consider alternative proposals for its stake in Hulu but they’d have to top its longstanding agreement to sell its remaining stake in the streamer to Disney next year.

13D and 13G reports. For those outside of the inside-baseball world of corporate finance: Forty-five days out from the end of the year, companies are required to have filed 13D and 13G disclosure forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are required for investors who amass 5% or more of a company’s total stock issue. Starting with this primer on how to monitor big-dollar investment bets, Variety will offer a quarterly survey of how the media and entertainment sector is faring among the world’s most sophisticated stock pickers.

Indian streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar has confirmed that it will no longer carry HBO content from March 31, in a move that was reported by Deadline last month. 

a form of retaliation against the Walt Disney Company for speaking out against the so-called “Parental Rights in Education” bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.The measure prohibits instruction or discussion in grades K-3 of gender or sexual orientation, and requires that any discussion of those topics in older grades be “age or developmentally appropriate.”Disney was initially silent on the bill, which Republicans were determined to pass, but the company later spoke out and agreed to pause all political donations to Florida politicians following internal backlash from LGBTQ employees and demonstrations protesting Disney’s response to the law.According to CNN, Peri has frequently made derogatory remarks about the LGBTQ community, lamenting the greater visibility of LGBTQ people and the lack of societal condemnation for homosexuality.“So why are there homosexuals today?” Peri said in a January 2022 Zoom discussion, later posted to YouTube. “There are any number of reasons, you know, that are given.

Rebel Wilson is opening up about meeting Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for the first time, and it wasn’t exactly great.

shared a not-so-fairytale moment with Hasan Minhaj on a March 2 visit to The Daily Show. “I took a photo in a secret bathroom inside Disneyland, which is illegal,” Wilson said. Disneyland’s commitment to keeping the magic alive makes it the happiest place on earth, and the bathrooms are no exception.

Rebel Wilson has learned that when it comes to rules, Disney does not play around.  The actress revealed on "The Daily Show with Hasan Minhaj" that she was banned from Disneyland for an unauthorized selfie. "I did get banned from Disneyland for 30 days because I took a photo inside a secret bathroom, which is illegal at Disneyland," Wilson shared with a laugh. She continued, "I got officially banned for 30 days.They called me up and said, 'Rebel what 30 days did you not want to come to Disneyland because you’re away filming a movie or something?' And I was like, 'Oh, well, June would be fine.'" The Disneyland Park and Resort did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

It’s the Happiest Place On Earth — until you f**k up!

Netflix has greenlighted an untitled comedy series created and executive produced by Erin Foster, starring and executive produced by Kristen Bell and executive produced by Steven Levitan. It comes from 20th Television where sisters Erin and Sara Foster have a pod deal and Levitan is under an overall deal.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor ESPN is getting in on the biggest game at corporate parent Disney: shuffling top executive ranks in the wake of the return of CEO Bob Iger. ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro handed oversight of content and newsgathering to Burke Magnus, a veteran executive who has helped the sports-media giant strike sports-rights deals with most of the major sports leagues as well as set in motion new content initiatives. Magnus has been named president of content, according to a new memo from Pitaro reviewed by Variety, and will supervise studio shows, live events, newsgathering, investigative journalism, original content/ESPN Films, talent, audio, digital, and social media. Meanwhile, Rosalyn Durant, a Disney veteran who has been overseeing Disney facilities in its parks division, will return to ESPN as executive vice president of programming and acquisitions, the ESPN position that negotiates for the rights that keep a significant chunk of live sports on Disney’s media portfolio.

The Mandalorian are sceptical about a timeline retcon revealed by series creator Jon Favreau.Earlier this week Favreau confirmed that the events in seasons one and two of the Star Wars live action spinoff series take place over “many years”. He said that Grogu (“Baby Yoda”) trained with Luke Skywalker for “two years” until being reunited with Din Djarin in fellow Disney+ Star Wars spinoff The Book Of Boba Fett.Favreau’s comments made on the Skytalkers podcast have surprised fans online, with many having reservations about the retroactive continuity.One fan wrote in the podcast’s YouTube comments section: “So after two years of training with Luke, Baby Yoda still can’t jump? And don’t give me that ‘he’s practically a toddler’ crap, his command of the force and cognitive alertness far exceed anything a young sentient life form could pull off.