Bob Iger, Disney CEO, on Hulu, Fox Deal, "Endgame" Financials, Marvel Plans – Deadline

Disney chief executive Bob Iger and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy touched on a number of topics during the company's second quarter earnings conference call with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday after published strong results.

Notable findings from this call include Iger's cautious approach to Hulu – which Disney now controls two-thirds – and a warning about the high costs associated with the otherwise boffo strategy. Avengers: End of the game.

While End of GameThe resounding success – already No. 2 all-time and perhaps soon for first place – was a recurring theme in the call, said McCarthy, adding that it was not cheap.

"Given the size of the distribution … and the costs of producing a film of this magnitude and magnitude and length, we expect the results of this film to be great, but they will be somewhat embarrassed. by the cost structure, "she said. .

Neither she nor Iger presented projections for the ultimate profit margin for End of Game, and McCarthy noted that she had issued a similar warning for those who make the count War of Infinity"Impact on the balance sheet. The previous release of the Avengers, War of Infinity, reported $ 500 million in profits, sources said.

Following End of Game"End of series, many film buffs and comic book lovers are wondering about the future of the Marvel film universe now that avenger-centered storytelling has gone on after just over a decade. Iger has taken note of Disney + streaming, television and future feature development projects.

"When we bought Marvel, we started to study their characters and when we got to about 8,000, we stopped," Iger said. "We could go in many different directions. We obviously worked a lot on character and history. "

Hulu, meanwhile, became even more faithful to Disney last month when Disney bought out WarnerMedia's 10% stake. When asked if an international expansion or other deficit service changes would be possible as long as Comcast would remain a 33% minority partner, Iger expressed some caution. "Any major decision in terms of investment or expansion should be made with their cooperation," he said. "We probably both share an optimistic view of Hulu, but we can not do it ourselves."

Regarding the Fox deal, which was closed in mid-March, Iger said he quickly turned out to be a tonic. "The more we move forward in the integration process, the more we are impressed by the value of the assets, the quality of the talent and the opportunities we can create," said Iger.

Among the items that were not discussed during the Q & A period with analysts was Iger: the recently completed sale of regional sports networks formerly owned by Fox to a directed circle of investors by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The valuation of the portfolio – including a separate sale of YES to the New York Yankees, Amazon and Sinclair – amounts to about $ 14 billion, just below the bottom of the range of expectations of most analysts.