Rumpelstiltskin wrote: ↑Mon Dec 05, 2022 6:24 pm
Don't know if it has been mentioned already, but Lightyear and Strange World and other projects were already in production when Chapek took over. These movies were greenlit under Iger's watch. So I don't think Chapek can be blamed for those (the marketing and decisions to release some of them directly on Disney+ on the other hand ...).
What I would like to know is what has been greenlit under Chapek's short rule, and if he's had any influence on these future movies.
I agree that I don't think the CEO has as much input into the films as a lot of people think. It's not exactly as if Iger or Chapek hand-picked or created the premise of the projects. It's also been said numerous times that Chapek is a numbers guy, so I assume he had as little creative input as possible. I think being a numbers man he did look for recipes and patterns in a project, and if it looks alright on paper he might've been all in. That's also why I buy into the conspiracy theory that he was intentionally tanking projects (in marketing, release schedule, other behind the scenes ways) to build more content for Disney+.
What I will disagree with is that Chapek couldn't have had any effect on films greenlit by Iger. It's really not as if just because they started production before he took over that these were untouchable. Chapek, or more so, the people he assigned had a direct impact on how those films were developed. That's why Iger has been laying off some of those individuals as well.
That's why I'm not as concerned for a film like Wish for example. Now that Iger's back and a focus of his is to restore the creative structure of the company. It's one project I think will see a positive effect from that.