The company’s streaming business, which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu also recorded its first ever profit in the third quarter of the financial year 2024.
Media giant Disney recently announced that it was planning to invest about $5bn (€4.58bn) in Europe and the UK, to make more TV shows and blockbuster movies, especially superhero movies, according to the Financial Times. This move follows the recent release of the Deadpool & Wolverine movie, which has been a major success.
The film, produced in the Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire in the United Kingdom, reached $900m (€824.61m) in global box office revenues earlier this week. According to American ticketing company Fandango, the film’s pre-ticket sales were the best for this year.
This trend is somewhat of a reversal from last summer, when the poor performance seen by superhero films such as Wasp: Quantunmania and Ant-Man had led to several media analysts and investors believing that superhero franchises may have run their course.
The $5bn investment is expected to be divided into $1bn investments over five years, which Disney will use for films, National Geographic and other TV productions and streaming shows for the Disney+ platform. Although the money is officially planned for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, it will mostly be used in the UK and Europe.
The company already has a considerable interest in the UK, with a long-term lease with Pinewood Studios and approximately £3.5bn (€4.09bn) spent on UK productions in the last five years.
It also has four films either scheduled or already in production at Pinewood, which include The Fantastic Four: First Steps, The Amateur, The Roses and Snow White.
Disney recently launched a multi-year campaign called “Create Your World” which aims to use the stories of Disney Princess characters to inspire young girls and women to dream big, try new things and follow their imaginations. The campaign will include new music cover releases, streaming and theatrical content, consumer products and Disney Parks experiences.
Disney’s streaming business sees first profit
Disney also recently reported its third quarter financial year 2024 (Q3 FY24) results. The company saw its streaming business, which includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu record its first ever profit, with a combined profit of $47m (€43.06). This was earlier than Disney had expected.
The company also saw revenues for the third quarter inch up to $23.2bn, up from the $22.3bn seen in the corresponding quarter last year. Income before income taxes also came up to $3.1bn, a significant rise from the loss seen in Q3 FY23. The diluted earnings per share in Q3 FY24 were $1.43 per share, up from a loss of $0.25 per share in the corresponding quarter last year.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company, Robert A. Iger said, in the third quarter earnings report, “Our performance in Q3 demonstrates the progress we’ve made against our four strategic priorities across our creative studios, streaming, sports, and experiences businesses.
“This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our entertainment segment both at the box office and in Direct-to-Consumer (DTC). Despite softer third quarter performance in our experiences segment, adjusted earnings per share for the company was up 35% and with our complementary and balanced portfolio of businesses, we are confident in our ability to continue driving earnings growth through our collection of unique and powerful assets.”
However, Disney’s streaming business is still seeing significant competition from rivals such as Netflix, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime.
