LAS VEGAS -- Amid a week of massive layoffs at Disney, the leadership team of its film arm gathered in Las Vegas on Wednesday to tout its successes and upcoming slate of films to a crowd of theatre owners and exhibitors.
The Walt Disney Company presentation, with exclusive new footage from films like âIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,â âElemental,â âGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3â and âThe Little Mermaid,â is part of the CinemaCon convention. At the weeklong trade conference, major Hollywood studios put on splashy presentations to assure the people who play their movies, from the biggest chains like AMC to single-screen independent theatres, that they have the content to keep audiences buying movie tickets.
Alan Bergman, the co-chair of Disney Entertainment, took the stage inside the Colosseum theatre at Caesars Palace first.
âI wanted to come and personally thank you for your support,â Bergman said. âI know how difficult itâs been over the past few years and its great that the business is finally coming back.â
Disney has been the top-grossing studio globally every year since 2016. Last year the company released four of the 10 top-grossing movies domestically. Those four movies â âBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever,â âDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,â âAvatar: The Way of Waterâ and âThor: Love and Thunderâ â accounted for 27 per cent of the domestic box office share. Globally, âAvatar: The Way of Waterâ grossed over US$2.3 billion to become the third most successful film of all time.
The company is undergoing layoffs this week, through Thursday, in its second round this year. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in February that the company was going to cut about 7,000 jobs as part of an ambitious companywide cost-savings plan and âstrategic reorganization.â The job cuts amount to about 3 per cent of the entertainment giantâs global workforce and are part of a targeted US$5.5 billion cost savings across the Burbank-based company.
In Las Vegas, Tony Chambers, head of theatrical distribution, said Disney has always â pre-, during and post-pandemic â âdelivered a fantastic array of stories for your theatres and our upcoming slate is no exception.â
This year will mark the first time since 2019 that Disney will have theatrical releases for films from all seven of its production studios: 20th Century, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Disney, Pixar, Disney Animation and Searchlight.
Still to come in 2023 is a theme park-ride movie with Justin Simienâs âHaunted Mansionâ (July 28) starring Danny DeVito and Owen Wilson, a live-action âLittle Mermaidâ (May 26), a new Indiana Jones film, Marvel releases in âGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3â (May 5) and âThe Marvels,â a Disney Animation musical âWishâ with Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine, and Pixar original âElementalâ (June 16).
Several recent Pixar titles were sent straight to Disney+ during the pandemic, including âSoul,â âLuca,â and âTurning Red.â On Wednesday, Disney gave âElemental,â a theatrical-first release (and a Cannes film festival premiere), a meaty showcase, debuting 20 minutes in 3D from the film about a city where all the elements live together but separately.
Disneyâs CinemaCon presentations often stick to the films, not the celebrities, but this year they had a few surprises in store: Harrison Ford and Melissa McCarthy.
Ford, in a pre-recorded video message, introduced an exciting chase scene from âIndiana Jones 5.â
âPlaying Indiana Jones over the years has meant the world to me,â Ford said. âWeâre thrilled for everyone to experience out film on the biggest and best screens June 30.â
âIndiana Jonesâ is also having its world debut at Cannes next month.
McCarthy, who voices Ursula in âThe Little Mermaidâ was in person to introduce a clip of her singing âPoor Unfortunate Souls.â
âUrsula is kind of everything. Sheâs dishy. Sheâs a conniving broad,â McCarthy said. âMaybe thatâs why I relate.â
Other upcoming releases include Kenneth Branaghâs âA Haunting in Veniceâ (Sept. 15), âThe Boogeymanâ (June 2) and the sci-fi drama âThe Creatorâ (Sept. 29), with John David Washington, from 20th Century Studios.
Searchlight has the loving satire âTheater Campâ (July 14), and Taika Waititiâs comedic soccer film âNext Goal Winsâ (Nov. 17), based on the story of a Dutch American coach (played by Michael Fassbender) who is sent to coach the struggling American Samoa national football team. The trailer had the audience laughing and clapping.
Chambers did not mention âMagazine Dreams,â with Jonathan Majors, which earlier this year was set for release on Dec. 8 year after its successful Sundance debut. Majors, who is also the new main villain of the Marvel world, Kang, was arrested in March on an assault charge. A lawyer for Majors denied any wrongdoing by the actor.