DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY

[Cfabar1]

They don't have enough content on disney+ in comparison to Netflix, which is why they priced it where they did in my view. I still think they can raise prices more, but to me, the duo bundle is the better comparison to Netflix, not just disney+.

 

[RivShore]

IIRC, it was in the 2020 year that Paycheck started the nickel and dime increases in the parks - Genie, ticket hikes, food, rooms, etc.

I was thinking some of that hit in 2019. So if that's the case, then some of that increase in margin may stick as guest levels return to normal, assuming inflation doesn't continue to eat away at it. But ideally Disney can pull back on the nickel and diming and increase guest count to make up for it.

 

[wabbott]

I was thinking some of that hit in 2019. So if that's the case, then some of that increase in margin may stick as guest levels return to normal, assuming inflation doesn't continue to eat away at it. But ideally Disney can pull back on the nickel and diming and increase guest count to make up for it.

Broken record here... Another gate would help. Disney Sea would be ideal.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Broken record here... Another gate would help. Disney Sea would be ideal.

Or they could announce an additional attraction or two for AK, DS, and Epcot. What’s up with that Play pavilion?

 

[OKW Lover]

Or they could announce an additional attraction or two for AK, DS, and Epcot. What’s up with that Play pavilion?

That's the way to go. Adding attractions doesn't require any new infrastructure. Plus, if they stagger the openings for those attractions they can get a bump in several quarters.

 

[Cfabar1]

The Play Pavillion is in limbo. Some things I’m glad didn’t proceed with the EPCOT expansion like Mary Popins London and Spaceship Earth.

But other things I’d love to have completed.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...ie-box-office-oppenheimer-opening-1235541719/

Box Office Fusion: ‘Barbie’ Heads for Staggering $155M-Plus Opening, ‘Oppenheimer’ Eyes $77M

Thanks to the Barbenheimer phenomenon, it is the first time in history that a three-day weekend has seen one movie open to $100 million or more and another to $50 million or more.

By Pamela McClintock
July 22, 2023 7:29am PDT

The summer box office just went nuclear.

Filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s female-fueled Barbie started off with a stupendous $70.5 million on Friday, including $22.3 million in previews. If early modeling is correct, the Warner Bros. movie is headed for a historic $155 million-plus opening domestically, a threshold usually reserved for male-driven superhero fare or marquee IP such as the final Harry Potter movie. (Some show the movie even crossing $160 million, although Warner Bros. is remaining more circumspect and sticking with $150 million-plus in case Saturday traffic tails off.)

Barbie — which brings to life Mattel’s iconic fashion doll — is also strutting to big numbers in certain overseas markets for a projected international debut as high as $120 million.

In North America, Barbie is all but assured of scoring the biggest domestic start ever for a movie directed by a woman solo — that crown is currently held by Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, which started off with $103.3 million domestically in 2017 — and should set a number of other records, including landing the top opening of 2023 to date ahead of The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146.3 million). The next closest 2023 launch belonged to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($120.7 million), followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118.4 million) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($106.9 million). Otherwise, many releases haven’t been able to inch past the $100 million mark.

Gerwig’s film is towering over Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the weekend’s other new wide release.

Not that Oppenheimer, from Universal, is any slouch. The three-hour historical drama about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the making of the atomic bomb is likewise coming in well ahead of expectations. Nolan’s movie earned $33 million on Friday for a projected $77 million weekend, which would mark the filmmaker’s third-biggest domestic debut behind The Dark Knight Rises ($160.9 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million), not adjusted for inflation. It also will come in ahead of recent summer pics including The Flash, Elemental and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.)

Other stats: at $77 million, Oppenheimer would rank as the third-biggest opening ever for a biographical film in North America behind American Sniper ($89.3 million) and The Passion of the Christ ($83.8 million), not adjusted for inflation.

Overseas, Oppenheimer is headed for a strong $88.9 million opening.
Heading into the weekend, tracking suggested Nolan’s film would start off with a solid $50 million domestically; Gerwig’s Barbie was expected to hit between $90 million and $110 million, already a huge sum for a female-skewing film.

The one-two punch of Barbie and Oppenheimer — a phenomenon dubbed “Barbenheimer” — was on full display by Friday in a needed boost for moviegoing and the box office, which has yet to recover fully from the pandemic. This will be the first three-day weekend in history when one movie earns $100 million or more and another $50 million or more.

Revenue-wise, this will be one of the biggest weekends of all time and likely the biggest since Avengers: Endgame, according to Comscore, with combined ticket sales crossing $300 million in a rare feat. The sizzling box office is a welcome respite from the ongoing writers and actors strike, which has brought Hollywood to a standstill and sparked worry among theaters owners that studios will begin moving their fall and winter releases if actors can’t promote their films.

Both Barbie and Oppenheimer were graced with A CinemaScores by Friday audiences in the U.S. And their critics’ scores on Rotten Tomatoes store aren’t far apart; 90 percent versus 93 percent, respectively.

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Theater Owners of their members, 200,000 patrons in the U.S. have bought tickets to book a double feature and see both Barbie and Oppenheimer (it isn’t clear how many of those customers belong to loyalty clubs and hence get a certain amount of tickets at a reduced cost or for free).

Barbenheimer isn’t making life easy for Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, which posted a five-day debut of $78.5 million after launching in U.S. theaters on July 12. Early estimates show the film dropping more than 55 percent to $20 million-$21 million in its second outing despite even better reviews than Barbie and Oppenheimer. Right now, it is in a close race with Sound of Freedom for third place.

Paramount’s seventh Mission: Impossible film has to contend with losing Imax screens to Oppenheimer, in addition to losing other premium large format screens to either Oppenheimer or Barbie. The upcharge for Imax and PLFs is significant, and can have a big impact on the bottom line.

Angel Studios’ independent sleeper hit Sound of Freedom is expected to enjoy another strong weekend, and could likewise earn $20 million or more in its third weekend after crossing the $100 million mark domestically last weekend against a production budget of $14 million-$15 million.

Billed as a political thriller, the faith-based movie stars The Passion of the Christ’s Jim Caviezel as the real-life Tim Ballard, who worked as an agent for the Department of Homeland Security before embarking on his own quest to bring child traffickers to justice. While the conservative-leaning Sound of Freedom has been discussed on QAnon message boards, Angel says it isn’t a QAnon movie. In late 2021, Caviezel spoke at a QAnon convention in Las Vegas, where he invoked the QAnon slogan, “The storm is upon us.”

 

[DeeBee3]

Billed as a political thriller, the faith-based movie stars The Passion of the Christ’s Jim Caviezel as the real-life Tim Ballard, who worked as an agent for the Department of Homeland Security before embarking on his own quest to bring child traffickers to justice. While the conservative-leaning Sound of Freedom has been discussed on QAnon message boards, Angel says it isn’t a QAnon movie. In late 2021, Caviezel spoke at a QAnon convention in Las Vegas, where he invoked the QAnon slogan, “The storm is upon us.”

I hate when "reporters" add little opinions in there and try to make it sound like a fact. QAnon wasn't even a thing when the script began in 2015.

Anyway, just bugged me.

Not surprised about Barbie - what I expect from a classic summer movie.

 

[clarker99]

Anyone on here subscribe to the Hulu Live + SVOD bundle? How is your experience?

I have been digging in to the streaming side of $DIS and they have about 4.5 million people on this service. I am intrigued as to why Disney is not branding it under the disney name as well as offering this option on disneyplus.com? You have to purchase at Hulu.com?

This is Disney's over the top competitor to Youtube TV.... I feel like this is where Disney has a lot of potential. Mix of on demand and live tv. Just confused on Disney’s positioning on this product.

 

[wabbott]

https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...leases-over-strikes/articleshow/102094829.cms

Disney considers delaying some 2023 movie releases over strikes
By Thomas Buckley, Bloomberg - Last Updated: Jul 25, 2023, 08:48 AM IST

Walt Disney Co. is reviewing its schedule of film releases through the rest of the year and may delay some titles because striking actors won’t help promote the pictures, according to people familiar with the matter.

The discussions are at an early stage, but could impact films including Poor Things, Next Goal Wins, Wish and Magazine Dreams, which are all slated for release this year. Any changes will depend on the outcome of the review, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.

Some films may be too far along in their marketing to change. Haunted Mansion is scheduled to hit theaters July 28. Last week, Disney released a trailer for The Marvels, a superhero film that’s likely to be the biggest picture still on the calendar, saying it’s scheduled for Nov. 10.

A spokesperson for Disney declined to comment.

Hollywood studios face obstacles in promoting upcoming titles. Work stoppages by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild bar talent from participating in red carpet premieres, film festivals and press interviews promoting projects from the companies they are striking against. Last week, Variety reported that Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. was considering postponing some of its 2023 films, including Dune: Part Two.

Disney, the world’s largest entertainment company, already shook up its release schedule once this year, delaying some major films by as long as three years. The studio has suffered a series of disappointing results at the box office in recent months, including for pictures such as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and The Little Mermaid.

 

[Cfabar1]

Anyone on here subscribe to the Hulu Live + SVOD bundle? How is your experience?

I have been digging in to the streaming side of $DIS and they have about 4.5 million people on this service. I am intrigued as to why Disney is not branding it under the disney name as well as offering this option on disneyplus.com? You have to purchase at Hulu.com?

This is Disney's over the top competitor to Youtube TV.... I feel like this is where Disney has a lot of potential. Mix of on demand and live tv. Just confused on Disney’s positioning on this product.

I have purchased it in the past. I find it, similar to YouTube TV, to be extremely expensive. It is nice that like cable, you can turn it on and off a little more easily.

I just can't justify the cost jump. Right now we get Hulu for $1.99/month, plus $2.99/month for our Disney+ plus up. AT&T provides us Max for free, Walmart provides us Paramount+ for free, and American Express reimburses us for our membership to Peacock Premium. We do pay for ESPN+, (our only other service), but it is still way cheaper to get all of this stuff for a fraction of the price we would pay for Hulu live.

 

[RivShore]

Anyone on here subscribe to the Hulu Live + SVOD bundle? How is your experience?

I have been digging in to the streaming side of $DIS and they have about 4.5 million people on this service. I am intrigued as to why Disney is not branding it under the disney name as well as offering this option on disneyplus.com? You have to purchase at Hulu.com?

This is Disney's over the top competitor to Youtube TV.... I feel like this is where Disney has a lot of potential. Mix of on demand and live tv. Just confused on Disney’s positioning on this product.

I know a few who have it and like it, it is a good cable alternative, but like all cable, it's expensive. It, or something like it, is a must have if you are a sports fan though.

 

[RivShore]

Interesting details on DCL results:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/forbes-article-says-dcl-loses-325-million.3925848/

 

[jade1]

Disney considers delaying some 2023 movie releases over strikes

Delaying some losses might actually help.

Put money in parks instead.

 

[Jwaire]

I was thinking some of that hit in 2019. So if that's the case, then some of that increase in margin may stick as guest levels return to normal, assuming inflation doesn't continue to eat away at it. But ideally Disney can pull back on the nickel and diming and increase guest count to make up for it.

There's a lot of competition out there. They may have to make a little more of an effort.

They're making adjustments slowly. We wouldn't have seen the return of the bounce back offer, dining plan or the room discounts if it wasn't for the soft summer (fall?) numbers. They also plan on making substantial changes to Genie+ later this year, allowing pre-planning.

Broken record here... Another gate would help. Disney Sea would be ideal.

That's the last thing they need. Animal Kingdom and Epcot both have a ton of expansion room. It would make more sense to invest in Animal Kingdom and then Epcot again.

Forget Dinosaur (although they should refurb it), there's a huge expansion pad above Kali River Rapids that's already cleared and waiting.

Build a South American or Australian expansion to the park. Where's the Jungle Book attraction? or Lion King?

Or they could announce an additional attraction or two for AK, DS, and Epcot. What’s up with that Play pavilion?

Pretty sure Play pavillion is dead in the water. Supposedly, Josh D'Amaro killed it last year during his walkthrough.

https://wdwnt.com/2022/10/rumor-dis...lay-pavilion-will-abandon-project-unfinished/

Delaying some losses might actually help.

Put money in parks instead.

Production costs have already occurred. It may delay some marketing costs, but the bulk of the costs have already occurred for those films.

 

[clarker99]

I have purchased it in the past. I find it, similar to YouTube TV, to be extremely expensive. It is nice that like cable, you can turn it on and off a little more easily.

I just can't justify the cost jump. Right now we get Hulu for $1.99/month, plus $2.99/month for our Disney+ plus up. AT&T provides us Max for free, Walmart provides us Paramount+ for free, and American Express reimburses us for our membership to Peacock Premium. We do pay for ESPN+, (our only other service), but it is still way cheaper to get all of this stuff for a fraction of the price we would pay for Hulu live.

All these services you list are bleeding out and will either shut down or have to charge full price? As individual prices escalate, the Live Bundle will likely become good value proposition.

Here are the costs per user per month. I have estimated for FY22 for Dis DTC. Sub average is derived using the quarterly reports while the costs are from the FY22 annual report.
subs and costs are in millions. ‘Other expenses’ are the tech costs.

These numbers dont even include the marketing costs for the division.

So, Disney is taking a bath to keep you as a subscriber. Lol.

 

[RivShore]

They also plan on making substantial changes to Genie+ later this year, allowing pre-planning.

I haven't seen anything but speculation about that, has there been something more solid that has come out?

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I just think there has been so much griping about it, that they will be forced to change it somewhat. It has not been well received at all, by large percentage of guest. I have no proof of this.....it's just what my gut tells me.

 

[clarker99]

I haven't seen anything but speculation about that, has there been something more solid that has come out?

The Disney Dish pod (Len Testa and Jim Hill) brought it up on their podcast a week or 2 ago. I guess there have been some Disney survey's out asking about pre-planning Lightning Lane attractions similar to the old Fast Pass+.

It pretty much sounds exactly like pre-Covid except you pay for the 3 LL's per day and they will bring back having A, B, C tiers for attractions at each park. Even questions about paying for more than 3.

 

[Jwaire]

I haven't seen anything but speculation about that, has there been something more solid that has come out?

Simplifying the Disney Genie+ experience: We have heard from guests that they would like ways to plan with Disney Genie+ service and individual Lightning Lane selections before the day of their park visit, and we want you to know we are working on ways guests may do this for visits in 2024. Our goal is to give you the opportunity to spend less time planning in the park and more time enjoying your visit with friends and family. While we are not yet able to share specific details, we look forward to sharing more information at a later date.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...vation-updates-and-more-at-walt-disney-world/

Here's the survey in the Disney Dish show notes:

https://disneydish.bandcamp.com/tra...disney-world-reportedly-considering-for-genie