2011 will see the opening of Mickey's Philharmagic, and Cinderella's Fairytale Hall at Tokyo Disneyland, along with the addition of the $22 million Jasmine's Flying Carpets and a version of the Fantasmic show at Tokyo DisneySea. This will be followed in 2012 by the opening of Toy Story Mania at Tokyo DisneySea. Further new attractions are likely to be installed in the next few years, if the company's spending plans are carried out as stated.
"The most exciting, by far the most important part of our Florida project - in fact the heart of everything we'll be doing at Disney World is our experimental prototype community of tomorrow. We call it EPCOT."
But to the studio’s credit, it seems to be taking that possible exploitation of its own properties very seriously, with executives reportedly very mindful of the fact that it could end up damaging the entire Disney brand if the film—which is being described as Disney’s own Justice League or The Avengers—ends up feeling like a feature-length commercial that trades entirely on past successes. (Of course, the fact that even studio executives are thinking in those terms pretty much confirms that it would be, right?)
Cruel. Would they make Christians wear that? Yes? Wow.
Verbinski, whose last live action film was 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, is getting serious about making his next directing outing The Lone Ranger, the Disney pic that has Jerry Bruckheimer producing with Depp playing Tonto.Huh.
The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) announced today that a Chicago Muslim woman employed as an intern at Disneyland in Anaheim will be allowed to wear an Islamic head scarf, or hijab, at work.Interesting. But we don't know what the accommodation entails.
Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co. are in talks with the largest cable TV systems to offer films for as much as $30 per showing soon after they run in theaters.
The studios are talking with In Demand, a partnership of Cox Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc., Bob Benya, chief executive officer of In Demand, said in an interview. Disney is also discussing streaming films on Web- linked devices such as Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox console and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3, people with knowledge of the talks said.Okay, but how do they convince the already nervous exhibitors that this isn't going to destroy their business?
[Disney Interactive Media Group]'s difficulty defining its mission had been a source of frustration for senior Disney executives, including Mr. Iger, who has frequently cited the need for media companies like his to embrace new technologies wholeheartedly. While some of Disney's efforts in new media have been robust, others have been fragmented.One potential replacement being floated is John Pleasants, current EVP at Disney and prior CEO of recently acquired Playdom. Pleasants previously worked for gaming giant EA.
he’s not the only possibility if Iger wants to promote from within a group that includes entrepreneurs and Disney execs. The EVP level includes Lane Merrifield, Disney Online Studios and Co-Founder and GM of Club Penguin; Disney vets Larry Shapiro, EVP-Business Development and Operations, and Paul Yanover, Disney Online. Bart Decrem and Andrew Lacey, who came along with the summer acquisition of Tapulous, have exec gigs; Decrem is SVP-GM of Disney Mobile, while Lacy is SVP & Head of Studios.
But Iger also has shown a willingness to move execs from group to group—Rich Ross from Disney to head the studio, for instance—and going outside completely isn’t out of the realm if he really wants to shake things up.
