MUMBAI:
Despite the fact that the Pirates of The Carribean sequel set a record
by crossing the $100 million mark in the first three days of release, US media
conglomerate Disney is set to cut the number of films made each year from 18 to
eight.
Media
reports indicate that the trend among Hollywood studuios is to reduce their overall
costs, whether it is in production, marketing, distribution or legal costs. Disney's
plan is to make less films under both Touchstone and Miramax. It will focus on
making films under its own brand name.
The
number of people employed in its film division will be reduced by upto 25 per
cent. Disney is said to be looking to focus more on family films as there is more
revenue potential there in terms of merchandising opportunities.
Apart
from the Pirates sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia did really well
last year. At the same time, there were failures with Alamo bing the biggest.
Media reports indicate that studio revenue is being affected by production and
marketing costs. The DVD market is also slowing down.
