Bob Iger Claims Disney Is Focused on Creating New IP and Values New Ideas... So Where Are the Original Movies?!

During Disney's latest earnings call, Bob Iger laid out the company’s current creative mindset, and according to him, there’s no hierarchy when it comes to sequels, remakes, or original IP. It all comes down to one thing: making great films that resonate.

"We continue to be focused on creating new IP," Iger said. "Obviously, that’s of great value to us long term. But we also know that the popularity of our older IP remains significant, and the opportunities to either produce sequels or convert what was previously animation to live action, like we’re doing with Moana in 2026, it’s just a great opportunity for the company and supports our franchise.

“So I wouldn’t say that we’ve got a priority one way or the other. Our priority is to put out great movies that ultimately resonate with consumers."

That statement comes even as Disney’s upcoming slate is stacked with franchise-heavy titles with sequels like Freakier Friday, Predator: Badlands, Tron: Ares, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Despite this, Iger insists the studio is still putting energy into original ideas, which I call bullshit on.

"The more we can find and develop original property, the better," he continued. "Of course, we are developing original property under the 20th Century banner and under the Searchlight banner.

“And look, you could even argue that Marvel continues to mine its library of characters for original property. Even though, for instance, there have been Fantastic Four movies before, we kind of consider the one we did an original property in many respects, because we’re introducing those characters to people who are not familiar with them at all."

Sure, Fantastic Four: First Steps launched with a strong $125 million, but it still saw a steep 66% drop in its second weekend. While it fared better than The Marvels (down 78%), it landed in the same decline zone as other recent Marvel misfires like Captain America: Brave New World and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Look, I’ll believe when I see it, because right now all I’m seeing Disney release are remakes, reboots, and sequels. I’m not seeing oriignal IP, and would you really consider Fantastic Four an original IP?

Still, Iger saw the launch as a win, saying the film "successfully launched this important franchise into the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

Meanwhile, Disney is also riding high off the $1 billion success of its live-action Lilo & Stitch, with Iger confident that upcoming sequels like Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash will be big box office draws. Next in line is Freakier Friday, which is currently tracking to open between $27 million and $30 million.

Beyond the movies, Iger also teased some big changes coming to Disney's streaming strategy. By 2026, Hulu and Disney+ will be merged into a single unified app.

"By combining them, we hope to increase engagement more," Iger explained, noting that the company won’t need to ramp up its domestic content budget. "As it relates to content spend, I’d say that from a domestic perspective you shouldn’t expect that we need to increase the spend on content significantly."

Instead, the focus is on expanding Disney’s global footprint. "Where we believe we should be investing is to grow our international businesses. So one, we’re going to brand the general entertainment from Star to Hulu across the country, across the world.

“Two, these technological advancements will obviously help in markets where our engagement has not been as high as they need to be.

“Three, we probably will invest in very selective markets internationally, where we really feel there’s a potential to grow our bottom line, to grow subs and to grow advertising revenue."

So, while Disney talks about pushing for more original IP, the lineup of films tells a different story. For now, it's clear the company will keep remixing and expanding what it already knows works. But if they are really focused on creating new IP and that they value new ideas, they should be making more original films, bu they’re not.