Disney Breaks Down Local-Language Content Plans Outside the U.S.

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDisney has previously revealed it has 500 shows in the pipeline outside of the U.S., but on Wednesday, the company broke down for the first time how those planned local-language programs are being dispersed throughout global regions.According to Christine M.

McCarthy, senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, 140 of those shows are in the works in the Asia/Pacific region, including Southeast Asia; 150 are in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) territories); 100 are set up in India; and 200 are being developed for Latin America.Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.Elsewhere on the call, CEO Bob Chapek was pressed by analysts on another international topic: Disney’s lack of traction in recent months with getting its movies approved for release in China.

Noting that the latest MCU release — “Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness” — reached nearly $500 million worldwide in its opening weekend without a berth in China, the world’s most populous country.

Chapek noted that the box office split in China is not as generous for distributors as it is in other overseas markets. “It doesn’t really preclude our success, given the relatively lower take rate that we get in the box office in China compared to the rest of the world,” Chapek said.Ahead of Disney’s quarterly earnings call Wednesday, the company reported Disney+ gained 7.9 million customers in the first three months of 2022 to reach 137.7 million subscribers total.