The Walt Disney Company posted astonishing earnings for its first quarter of fiscal 2015, so Disney CEO Bob Iger had every reason to boast during his call with investors this afternoon.
The media conglomerate posted a 9 percent increase in operating income from the same period during the previous year, jumping from $12.31 billion in fiscal 2014 to $13.39 billion in fiscal 2015. Disney’s first quarter of fiscal 2015 ended on Dec. 27, 2014.
Disney’s continued success is mostly thanks to one movie - Frozen. Over a year after the film’s release in November 2013, the movie keeps making money for the studio. There’s even going to be a new short film debuting in March ahead of Cinderella screenings.
“I don’t think that we can underestimate the impact that Frozen has had across our company and all of our businesses,” Iger said, reports TheWrap. “Do we think Frozen has legs? We absolutely believe that this is the beginning of a long-term franchise.”
According to Deadline, Iger also teased a Disney-branded. streaming service after it reached a deal with DirecTV for its Sling TV service. “We think we have that opportunity with a Disney branded service. We may have an opportunity with a Marvel type product and possibly even Star Wars,” he said. However, he isn’t in a rush to get it done.
As for Star Wars, Iger once again stressed that the company is going to make the franchise a major property around the world. Disney will see if its $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm will pay off soon enough, since Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in December.
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