Disney, 'Lizzie' Star Parting Ways After Pay Dispute

[Jake Lipson]

<a href=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-d ... 9083.story target=blank>The LA Times</a> says the Lizzie McGuire franchize is over. Lizzie was never really my thing, but I know a lot of people here like it, so, here it is.

Lizzie McGuire and Walt Disney Co. are getting divorced — Hollywood style.

After weeks of rancorous negotiations over the future career of teen sensation Hilary Duff, the star of the Disney Channel's hit "Lizzie McGuire" sitcom and movie spinoff, the two sides confirmed Friday that they are splitting up amid accusations of greed and squandered opportunities.

The bitter parting, at the height of Duff's success, provides a rare glimpse into the high-stakes brinkmanship that plays out behind Hollywood's curtains.

Struggling to shore up its bottom line, Disney was eager to keep alive its most successful home-grown franchise in years. The company had planned another movie for Duff as well as a possible Lizzie-in-high-school sitcom for Disney's struggling television network, ABC.

Keeping the phenomenon growing has been a major priority for Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner, who put his second in command, President Bob Iger, in charge of the crucial negotiations.

The reason is simple: Among the "tween" set — children ages 9 to 14 — Lizzie has been a money machine with her line of books, clothes and music products, generating millions of dollars for the parent company. Last year, Duff recorded a pop single, "I Can't Wait," through Walt Disney Records that received heavy play on Radio Disney.

But the 15-year-old actress from Houston was at a crossroads, looking to expand beyond her role as an awkward and lovable middle-schooler that brought her fame on the small and big screens. Despite last-ditch attempts by top Disney executives and Duff's lawyer to keep her in the corporate family, efforts at a reconciliation failed when the actress' representatives turned down the company's offer for a movie sequel and a new TV series aimed at a slightly older crowd.

"Disney's strong-armed tactics and failure to pay our client a fee commensurate with offers received from other studios and networks caused the breakdown of negotiations with the Duffs," said Michael R. Fuller, Duff's attorney. "While the Lizzie McGuire franchise may be over for Disney, Hilary Duff's career is flourishing."

The actress is shooting 20th Century Fox's family movie "Cheaper by the Dozen" and next month begins production on the Warner Bros. film "Cinderella Story."

Disney executives counter that the Duffs simply overplayed their hand, demanding unrealistic amounts.

"We very much wanted to continue the Lizzie franchise," said Disney Studios production chief Nina Jacobson, who was involved in the negotiations. "But every deal has its tipping point, the point at which it no longer makes sense. Unfortunately, that's the point we reached in the Lizzie negotiations, and we ultimately had to say goodbye."

Industry analysts said that, although it is difficult to calculate the potential financial effect of Duff's departure, it clearly is a blow to Disney.

"It's going to show up on the radar screen as a lost opportunity," said Gale Daikoku, a media analyst with GartnerG2 in San Jose.

Although Disney does not plan on replacing Duff, it will continue to reap the financial rewards of the Lizzie bonanza. The company owns the rights to the reruns, the character and its related merchandise. That includes the Lizzie McGuire apparel line, publishing rights to seven "Lizzie McGuire" titles, with five more to be released this year, and a host of other Lizzie products from socks and sleeping bags to puzzles and interactive games.

So, what happened?

Two weeks before the early May debut of "The Lizzie McGuire Movie," Iger began negotiating with Duff's mother, Susan, and the actress' lawyer for the movie sequel and proposed ABC series, which envisioned Lizzie during her high school years. Duff wanted at least $100,000 an episode, considerably more than the $15,000 per show she was paid for the Disney Channel series, according to sources close to the Duffs. Disney, they said, offered the actress $35,000 an episode, which she rejected as insultingly low.

Frustrated, Iger broke off the talks. He told Jacobson and her boss, Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, that they still could pursue a movie sequel but that he was bowing out of day-to-day negotiations.

When the "Lizzie" movie opened May 2 with an impressive $17.4 million in ticket sales, the idea of a sequel gathered momentum.

Although Jacobson would not discuss financial details, she said: "We feel we were generous and we reached to make this happen. We're only sorry the other side didn't feel the same way."

According to sources close to the negotiations, Disney refused to pay Duff the $5 million she was seeking — an amount her representatives said was on par with what teen actor Frankie Muniz was paid by MGM for an upcoming sequel to "Agent Cody Banks."

On May 9, Disney put a final offer on the table. For her first "Lizzie" film, Duff received $1 million. This time, sources said, Disney agreed to pay her $4 million as an advance against 4% of the studio's gross receipts on the film. Disney also agreed to pay Duff a $500,000 bonus if the first movie grossed at least $50 million at the box office, the sources said.

The deal, they said, broke down that same day, a Friday, when Duff's representatives demanded that the $500,000 bonus be paid regardless of the film's performance. Disney refused and the talks ended.

As it turned out, by Monday it was evident that the "Lizzie McGuire" movie was not the big hit the studio had hoped. The film's second-weekend ticket sales plunged nearly 60%. After three weeks in release, "Lizzie McGuire" has grossed $32.3 million and is expected to reach about $40 million. The film will make a healthy profit because it cost just $17 million and is certain to sell millions of videos and DVDs during the winter holidays.

"Lizzie McGuire" has been the Disney Channel's biggest success since its debut in January 2001.

The series, which airs seven days a week at 7:30 p.m., is one of the cable channel's highest-rated shows, averaging 2 million viewers an episode — nearly half of them ages 9 to 14. It also airs Saturday mornings on ABC.

In December, Disney halted production of the series after shooting 65 episodes, a customary number for popular children's shows. Of those, five have yet to air. They will be shown during the summer, fall and spring.

Disney Channel expects to continue airing reruns for years to come and is contemplating producing an animated "Lizzie" series.

Disney executives say the cable channel still has a stable of other popular shows, including "That's So Raven," starring emerging teen idol Raven Simone, formerly of "The Cosby Show."

None, however, have achieved the same kind of broad appeal as "Lizzie."

Duff's lawyer said the actress is "sad about the 'Lizzie' fans being disappointed. She wants to know what Disney will tell them when they hear the show is not returning."

The studio's production chief, Jacobson, offered an answer: "We're sad too."

[Luke]

It's hard to take Disney's side here, knowing how successful the "Lizzie" show and related merchandise have been for them. Sounds like they blew something they could have had because they didn't want to put out what the networks were offering. But then I don't know how much of a career beyond "Lizzie" Hilary can have. It's probably best for her to get her own network series, as that's what needs to be done to get a lot of work for actors of that age.

[Choco Bear]

i hate to say this but disney is kinda stupid for this , they know how popular this was and the movie is a considerable hit i think they should have paid hilary in which they probably would have got their money back from the merchandise and other lizzie stuff, i dont think 100 000 dollars is alot especially for a 15 year old, look at some of the other teen stars who probably do get paid more , i really hope they can settle this i like lizzie mcguire and hillary duff thats only my opinion tho

[Jack]

Well, I don't really give a crap either way. Duff is annoying, and so was the show.

[Cinderelly]

Well, I don't really give a crap either way. Duff is annoying, and so was the show.

I am in agreement. Disney may have made a stupid choice, true. However, this type of argument is what puts me off about stars. Once i hear them complaining about pay once they get a "big head" because of fame, i start to dislike them. Because who knows, she could easily end up another forgotten child star in 10 years, so IMO it would have been a good idea for her to keep ties with Disney. After all, she wouldn't have ever gotten this popular hadn't it been for disney.

*end of random rant, don't kill me*

[Jack]

Well, I don't really give a crap either way. Duff is annoying, and so was the show.

I am in agreement. Disney may have made a stupid choice, true. However, this type of argument is what puts me off about stars. Once i hear them complaining about pay once they get a "big head" because of fame, i start to dislike them. Because who knows, she could easily end up another forgotten child star in 10 years, so IMO it would have been a good idea for her to keep ties with Disney. After all, she wouldn't have ever gotten this popular hadn't it been for disney.

*end of random rant, don't kill me*

Just another little extension of my earlier comment (please forgive me for this, because I know it'll sound on the immature side, but I gotta get it out):

What makes Duff so annoying is that if you see her on talk shows or on MTV, she the total opposite of who she is on the show - Lizzie is a character who is very grounded, has a good personality, and really cares about being a good person. In real life, Duff acts like an arrogant, trying-to-be-18-year-old, diva-queen, shallow-as-the-kiddie-pool, everything-she-says-floats-like-helium, idiot.

She actually has talked about the show like she's too good for it now. As far as I'm concerned, I'm glad Disney dumped her. I'd like nothing more than to see her as a washed up child star on "Where are they now?"

[meowthew]

I'm a big "Lizzie" fan, but the Duff camp is clearly the party to blame in all this. It's been known for a while that Hilary Duff's mother has been making impossible demands of Disney because of what she perceives as her daughter's burgeoning "celebrity" status.

Sure, Disney was playing hardball with their money, as they always do (and I don't see that as bad at all), but Susan Duff was demanding way too much. I have the strong feeling that in the long run the Duffs stand more to lose from this decision than Disney.

But on a good note, now "Lizzie McGuire" will end on top, and Disney can move on to bigger and better things.

[Eeyore]

i hate to say this but disney is kinda stupid for this , they know how popular this was and the movie is a considerable hit i think they should have paid hilary in which they probably would have got their money back from the merchandise and other lizzie stuff, i dont think 100 000 dollars is alot especially for a 15 year old, look at some of the other teen stars who probably do get paid more , i really hope they can settle this i like lizzie mcguire and hillary duff thats only my opinion tho

That's 100,000 *PER* episode. Which is what, one per week? That's several million dollars a season, for a few months work.

I don't blame Disney at all here. At the kind of money she was asking, the show wouldn't be very profitable for them, so it's better to kill it, and put the money towards something else.

[buffalobill]

Ray Romano 22 episodes=43 Million
All 6 Friends stars=$1Mill per episode.
I don't watch Lizzie but 100K per episode is comparitively peanuts especially considering that the demographic that watches Duffs show spends SO much money on all sorts of merchandise. 20-30 episodes a year would be 2-3 million which Disney would make back in a heartbeat. Of course she is & would be overpaid. Compared to teachers, police & firefighters, everyone in showbusiness is. But compared to the going rate for people who are at the top of an entertainment venue she's worth it & Disney is making a big mistake on one of the only shows on the Disney Channel I can actually name (even though I don't watch it).

[Maerj]

Those other people and shows are on major networks, pulling in big ratings and the money that goes along with all of that. Miss Hillary got a little full of herself, they offered her the $4 million for the next movie and that wasn't enough. So, she chose not to accept it and they parted ways, end of story. Disney didn't drop the ball, she did. They can find some other kid stars, they always have and always will. Meanwhile she will most likely end up doing low budget horror movies or soft-core porn.

[Cinderelly]

Meanwhile she will most likely end up doing low budget horror movies or soft-core porn.

LOL

[MickeyMouseboy]

yeah she will end up doing some corny beach party movies and stupid action movies. not to be mean but that's what happen to tommy kirk, annette funicello and other early disney stars. they are still remembered cause they are humble and dont get so full of themselves and if they chose to left disney it was cause they wanted to do more mature movies and not cause of the $$$$$ since Walt paid very good $$$$$. I agree with eeyore and terry! Hilary Duff will end up be a no body probably marrying some old fat old guy and having 10 kids or dying of overdose when noone wants her in their movies. oh well Disney we got $100,000 to make more animated movies!!!!!

[Maerj]

Let me just add that I really HOPE that she doesn't up like that... but it does happen!

[Satoshi]

I hope Hilary doesn't end up as a forgotten child star but I can definitely see it happening. I'm glad that Disney's going to be releasing Lizzie Mcguire DVDs. I like the show. Now if only we could get Even Stevens DVDs too.

[Cinderelly]

Even Stevens DVDS oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, wouldn't that be Great!!!! You know, I used to have no hope at all for it to ever come out on DVD. But with the recent news of "Lizzie" coming to DVD, those of us "Even Stevens" fans just might get our wish somtime in the future. I doubt it would be anytime soon since the show wasn't anywhere near as big as 'Lizzie", but hopefully we'll see it on DVD within 5-10 years.....Anyway,

[Luke]

Ultimately, I care a lot more about Even Stevens DVD than Hilary Duff's career moves.

[jabroni76]

well, that sucks for disney that their highest grossing tv series on Disney Channel is getting canned. But hopefully, they will (as stated in article) push "Thats So Raven" and "Even Stevens". I know "Even Stevens" has a ton of potential, mostly from young-teen and younger males, and many females, also, parents.

so, if even steven's continues production after the movie, I'd be super happy!!!

[MickeyMouseboy]

i like that's so raven better than lizzie!

[Jack]

Ultimately, I care a lot more about Even Stevens DVD than Hilary Duff's career moves.

Word up, brotha!

BTW, I think "That's So Raven" is the crappiest, cheapest, cheesiest, un-funny show in the history of television.

[Choco Bear]

i like thats so raven more too but i alos like lizzie, o ya even stevens is a riot