Disney has been ruining its brand with “woke” content.
Only now is the company starting to have second thoughts about its strategy.
And Disney got some bad news after its latest blockbuster isn’t doing so hot.
Disney, the largest media company in the world, is currently in a state of flux.
The company recently fired CEO Bob Chapek after renewing his contract, and he was succeeded by his predecessor Bob Iger, the man who hand-picked him.
The switcheroo with the two Bobs exemplifies the helter-skelter nature of the company.
Disney has bent the knee to the “woke” mob, but it also has a duty to make money.
And Disney’s shares are down again after Avatar 2: The Way of Water did not meet expectations.
The company’s stock price has dropped to its lowest point since 1974.
Market Watch reported that “‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ couldn’t reverse Walt Disney Co.’s recent funk, which has the stock on a path for its worst year since 1974. Disney shares sank nearly 5% to their lowest level since March 2020 on Monday, after the blockbuster sequel and one of the priciest movies in Hollywood history fell short of the hype in its opening weekend. ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ hauled in $134 million domestically and had the second-largest global opening of 2022, but fell short of tracking estimates based on advance U.S. ticket sales and disappointed in one of the biggest markets for the franchise, China. Disney had hoped to clean up in China, where the first movie in 2009 did blockbuster business. ‘The Way of Water’ earned $57.1 million there, which Disney described in a Wall Street Journal report as disappointing but understandable.”
The soft opening in China was due to the country’s continued COVID lockdowns, which triggered protests after people were tragically burned alive in an apartment complex because the exits were welded shut by the CCP.
Tony Chambers, Disney’s global head of theatrical distribution, explained, “The problem is nobody wants to go to the cinema, because they’ve been told that COVID is extremely dangerous . . . Although cinemas are open, the appetite for going to them isn’t really there.”
American theaters had the same problem during the height of COVID in 2020, but people have slowly come back to the movies.
Top Gun: Maverick shattered records during the summer of 2022.
Market Watch added that the “news helped send Disney’s stock down 4.8% Monday . . . to $85.78 – two cents shy of Disney’s lowest closing price since 2014. ‘Avatar’s’ less-than-stellar start is just the latest setback for Disney shares, which have declined 44.6% this year, putting them on pace for their biggest annual percentage drop since 1974 . . .”
Disney lost a lot of goodwill in recent years.
The company’s fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis turned off a lot of people who still looked to Disney to stand for family values, not “woke” values.
Iger had designs on running for President as a Democrat, so he is ideologically to the Left of Chapek, but Iger is not a dumb businessman.
He knows Disney’s brand is currently in tatters.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.