Last week the Walt Disney Company announced that after more than two decades of working together it was severing ties with producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
The news comes a few months after the more-than-dismal and very costly theatrical release of The Lone Ranger, which Bruckheimer produced. The poor box office receipts from that film will likely cost Disney nearly $190 million.
The separation also came about a week after Disney announced that the fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was put on hold.
The Disney/Bruckheimer relationship resulted in 27 films, including the National Treasure films and the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
The official release from Disney states that “Disney will continue to focus on its branded properties including Disney, Pixar, Marvel and now Lucasfilm, while Bruckheimer is looking to produce more mature films outside the scope of the Disney brand.”
In the same release, Bruckheimer said he and Disney will “continue working together on Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, and other projects we have developed together at the studio.”
Alan Horn, Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios said in the company’s release: “Jerry is one of the most respected and prolific producers working in the motion picture industry, and we have had an incredibly successful collaboration over the past two decades and he is a friend to many of us here at Disney. We will continue to work together in the future, and we look forward to seeing more of the films that have made Jerry Bruckheimer a Hollywood legend.”
Disney’s CEO Bob Iger told CNBC earlier this week that Bruckheimer will “probably” end up making more films for Disney.
