Disney Goes After Gen Z Men: Hollywood Told to Pitch Bold New Movies

Disney is making a big push to get young men back into theaters. Multiple sources told Variety that Walt Disney Studios has been asking Hollywood creatives to pitch original movies aimed at guys aged 13 to 28, basically Gen Z.

It makes sense that every studio wants to turn younger audiences into regular moviegoers.

But Gen Z men are proving tricky. Studies show they are often lonely, obsessed with video games, and spent a lot of their teenage years stuck at home during COVID-19. That makes them a hard crowd to capture. What surprised people in the industry, according to sources, is that Disney is looking for entirely new ideas to pull these young men into theaters.

This is the same Disney that has Marvel and Lucasfilm, which have been favorites with men for almost 20 years. But even those franchises are starting to struggle.

Sources say Disney is now looking for fresh stories, from big adventure films and treasure hunts to seasonal releases like Halloween movies. This comes as Star Wars has struggled to produce films, and superhero movies are losing some of their audience.

The push for young men is said to reach all the way to Disney’s top executives, but most of the work is being handled by David Greenbaum. He joined Disney in 2024 to lead the live-action film division. Disney has been missing strong, male-focused movies in recent years, with “Pirates of the Caribbean” being the last big franchise aimed at guys.

Insiders say the franchise is in development again, though not in the last version involving Margot Robbie. Disney’s 2023 attempt to reboot “Indiana Jones” also underperformed, earning $383 million worldwide on a $300 million budget before marketing.

A Disney source told Variety that films for Gen Z men are part of a bigger strategy across the company, but they aren’t more urgent than other projects. To help, Greenbaum hired Daria Cercek, a former Paramount Pictures executive who has overseen franchises like “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “A Quiet Place,” and “Smile.” Some think this is Greenbaum trying to make his mark on Disney’s live-action movies.

Others see it as a sign Disney is serious about reaching a male audience.

Disney has done really well with millennials. That generation grew up loving movies like “The Lion King,” “101 Dalmatians,” and “Lilo & Stitch,” and now they bring their kids to see live-action reboots. But Gen Z is different.

There’s no guarantee they’ll show up, which is why movies like Warner Bros.’ “Minecraft Movie” were such big hits. That film worked because it connected to a game Gen Z played as kids, and fans created viral moments on TikTok. Universal had a similar trend in 2022 with “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” when young men packed theaters in suits just for fun.

Right now, Disney is on par with Sony and Paramount for Gen Z ticket buyers, with 10% of the audience in 2024. That’s slightly above Universal and a little below Warner Bros. Disney isn’t just relying on films, though.

The company also bought a $1.5 billion stake in the game Fortnite, which will feature Disney characters. Sources say Disney does not have rights to make Fortnite movies yet, which would be an easy way to attract Gen Z men to theaters.

Even though Disney crushed the box office last year and is expected to do it again this year with potential billion-dollar hits like “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and “Zootopia 2,” the company wants to explore new paths. Four Disney films have crossed $1 billion in the past 16 months, which no other studio has done.

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed on a recent earnings call that the studio isn’t favoring old franchises over original films. “The priority is to put out great movies,” he said. Walt Disney Studios declined to comment for this story.

The superhero genre has been cooling off, too. Marvel’s latest, “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” didn’t meet expectations, even with good reviews and a strong opening. Star Wars hasn’t released a movie in seven years, though a big-screen adaptation of Disney+’s “The Mandalorian” is coming next year.

A top executive from a rival studio told Variety, “I never thought I’d say it, but it looks like Disney is going to have to start trying,” referring to attracting young men despite having some of the most popular franchises in the world.

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