Benzinga - by Chris Katje, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Shares of Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) have fallen significantly in the last year and are trading at decade lows, much to the displeasure of shareholders.
There could be more troubles ahead for the company's movie division with more delays coming.
What Happened: Disney released several movies that have underwhelmed at the box office compared to their expectations in 2023.
The 2024 year isn't looking much better with multiple movies now being delayed to 2025 as a result of the ongoing Hollywood Strike.
On Friday, Disney shared that its live-action "Snow White" movie set for a March 22, 2024 release has been delayed to March 21, 2025.
A report from The Hollywood Reporter also said that Disney's "Elio," a film from the company's Pixar studio, is being pushed back from March 1, 2024 to June 13, 2025.
The changes take two of the company's key Spring 2024 releases out of the upcoming schedule and could put more pressure on the remaining 2024 films, which also face pressure as the actors' strike continued.
Disney also removed "Magazine Dreams" from the calendar. The move was expected given the film's star Jonathan Majors current legal troubles. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Disney CEO Bob Iger and other media CEOs told SAG-AFTRA that the deadline to keep 2024 films in the calendar is getting close. A rumored deadline of the first week of November has gained steam and could be when more films are delayed.
Disney did not share an update on "Deadpool 3," which is scheduled to be released in May 2024. The film was one of several that halted production during the actors' strike, which could put the release date in question.
Related Link: Disney Q3 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Miss, EPS Beat, 105.7M Core Disney+ Subscribers
Why It's Important: The announcement from Disney follows a recent one from Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)(NASDAQ:PARAA) that the next "Mission: Impossible" movie would move from 2024 to 2025.
Earlier this year, Disney announced delays for movies in the Avatar, Marvel and Star Wars franchises: the third "Avatar" movie from 2024 to December 2025, "Avengers" movies moved to 2026 and 2027 and an untitled "Star Wars" movie moved from 2025 to 2026.
The company also moved "Thunderbolts," "Blade," "Fantastic Four" and "Captain America: Brave New World."
All the changes could spell trouble for what could become a more bare-than-usual blockbuster lineup of films in 2024 for Disney. This could put pressure on the company's other business lines, similar to 2023 when no film has hit the $1 billion milestone at the box office.
Movie theater companies like Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CNK) and AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) could also see pressure with a weaker lineup of films.
DIS Price Action: Disney shares trade at $79.33 versus a 52-week range of $78.73 to $118.18. Shares of the media company are down 24% in the last year.
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