Disney could reduce the release of live-action films. Of course they will still make movies like “Narnia” and “pirates of the caraibes”, but according two seperate recent news accounts, they could stop or reduce the release of adult-oriented films. This is of course bad news for the H2G2 fans who still wait for the movie adaptation of The Restaurant at the end of the universe! The H2G2 movie came under Touchstone banner and was not the expected huge success even if it didn’t lost any money.
Here are extracts from a good report on MarketWatch :
“This week, two separate news accounts reported Disney will announce plans for reductions at its Buena Vista studio operations. The trade publication Variety was first on Wednesday, saying the studio would reduce its annual film output to eight from 18. Then on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times followed up by saying hundreds of jobs would be lost in a mass layoff throughout Buena Vista, and its film output would be cut to 10 from a range of 14 to 21. Most films would come under the Walt Disney Pictures banner, which produced the company’s latest hit, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” as well as the June animated release, “Cars,” the Times said. Disney’s animation operations and the newly acquired Pixar film group are likely to remain untouched. But Disney is looking at sharply reducing the live-action films released by its Touchstone division, in years past the company’s primary source of such material and the group that catapulted Disney into adult-oriented films during the tenure of previous CEO Michael Eisner. Touchstone has had a hand in virtually all of Disney’s major live-action hits of the past, including “Pearl Harbor,” “Armageddon” and “Pretty Woman,” but the list of breakout Touchstone hits is relatively short. That list has gotten shorter in recent years. Such films as “Annapolis,” “Casanova” and “The Alamo” did not catch on with audiences as the production firm had only modest success with “Flightplan,” “Ladder 49” and “The Ladykillers.” Touchstone puts out about 10 films a year, roughly the amount that would be cut if news accounts prove accurate. If Disney cuts its film output by more than half, the studio will be the first (and could be the only) one to make such a drastic move in light of rapidly rising costs. “
