Seldom since the days of Walt Disney has the success or failure of the Disney Studios rested so entirely on one man. With Disney reducing it’s film releases to 8 or so a year, and just one blockbuster, the need for that blockbuster to score hugh box office is big. Right now that man is Jerry Bruckheimer.
…as part of a corporate shift under the new Disney chief executive Robert Iger, the studio pledged this summer to make fewer films and focus on family-friendly movies that are marketable across all the company’s businesses, including theme parks, plush toys and television. That meant Mr. Bruckheimer was now in the onscreen amusement park business — a far cry from the highly stylized, color-saturated movies and television shows that made him famous.
I’m sure Iger knows this is one instance where he should feed the beast. Another, not coincidentally, is big budget theme park improvements. Iger appears to be going back to the days of Walt using parks to promote the movies and vica-versa. The difference is just that where animated features were the hits of the 50s and 60s, today’s films come from Pixar and Bruckheimer. Unless that trend changes, I think it’s safe to say where the next theme park attractions are come from. (Read)