Less than two months after the ouster of Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, the studio is continuing its shake-up with the departure of Mark Zoradi, president of Disney’s motion pictures group. Zoradi had been with the company for 29 years.
The Los Angeles Times notes that “under the direction of Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, the Burbank studio is being remade by Cook’s successor, Rich Ross, former president of Disney Channels Worldwide.”
I don’t want to read anything into this, but it’s worth noting that Cook and Zoradi are both devout Christians. (We interviewed Zoradi a couple years ago.)
The Times also noted that Zoradi’s departure followed a weak opening weekend ($30 million) for Disney’s A Christmas Carol, which cost $200 million to make and tens of millions more to market. One analyst estimated that the studio could lose $50 to $100 million on the film.
The Huffington Post, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, and Screen Daily weigh in on the story.
