DISNEY plans to spend at least US$5 billion in the UK and continental Europe over the next five years to produce blockbuster movies and TV shows, Jan Koeppen, its president across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Financial Times (FT) on Friday (Aug 9).
The company will commit about US$1 billion a year in the region over the next five years across films, Disney+, National Geographic and other TV productions, Koeppen told FT.
Disney’s plans could build on the recent success of films like Inside Out 2 and the company’s television business.
Inside Out 2 notched US$1.6 billion in global ticket sales and Deadpool & Wolverine, which debuted in the current quarter, has brought in more than US$850 million.
“We feel like we’re really on a roll again with movies, which is fantastic,” Koeppen told FT.
Disney did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment
Koeppen’s comments follow Disney forecasting a ‘moderation in demand’ at its theme park business in coming quarters, pulling shares down 1.1 per cent on Wednesday.
Koeppen leads Disney’s EMEA business commercially and operationally in over 130 markets across the region, according to the company’s website. His responsibilities include handling Disney+, motion pictures, television, content licensing and local original productions, the website showed. REUTERS
