As Disney prepares its future film slate, CEO Bob Iger said the company does not have a priority of creating new intellectual property versus releasing sequels or reboots.
We continue to be focused on creating new IP. Obviously, thats of great value to us long term, but we also know that the popularity of our older IP remains significant, Iger said on Disneys earnings call Wednesday.
I wouldnt say that weve 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 added. Disney recently released a live-action Lilo and Stitch, which became the first title to cross $1 billion globally. And Iger also pointed to the upcoming live action Moana, set to be released in 2026, as examples of the opportunities to reininvigorate existing IP.
He added that the company continues to develop original property under its 20th Century Fox banner and under its Searchlight banner. Additionally, he said some Marvel properties could be consideredas original IP, given the new reach Disney is giving the characters. Disneys Fantastic Four is currently on top of the domestic box office chart, but had a large drop from its opening weekend.
You could even argue that Marvel continues to mine its library of characters for original property, 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 were introducing those characters to people who are not familiar with them at all, Iger said.