After numerous box office disappointments, the Walt Disney Co. has decided to reduce by half its yearly film production, The New York Times reported Monday.
The decision by Walt Disney Studios chairman Joe Roth marks the first effort by a major Hollywood company to limit its output because of an increasingly difficult film market, the Times said.The reported change at Disney comes as many movies fail to survive longer than their first weekend at theaters and the costs of making and marketing films continue to rise.
Several Disney films have flopped at the box office and many of them seem to resemble one another - movies such as "Celtic Pride," "Eddie," "Too Much," "Last Dance," "Before and After," "Mr. Wrong" and "White Squall."
The company currently produces between 35 to 40 films a year. That number will be cut back to about 20, Roth told the Times.
"The audience is appropriately telling us there are too many films," he said.
Disney spokeswoman Elizabeth Wolf said Sunday night that she didn't have any information on the report and could not comment.
The lower film production reportedly will put Disney behind competitors Time Warner Inc. and the Sony Corp.