With all the signs of a classic Hollywood shake-up, Dick Cook, the longtime head of Walt Disney Studios, abruptly left the company Friday afternoon after 38 years.
The news, which came just as offices were emptying out for the weekend, stunned the entertainment industry for its suddenness, even as it revealed a rift between Cook and Disney Chief Executive Robert A. Iger. The studio has had an uneven box-office performance and has been struggling creatively. It lost money in its most recent financial quarter.
A person close to Cook said the movie chief "didn't see it coming." He was summoned into a meeting and was told the studio "wanted to go in a different direction," said the person. A Disney spokesperson denied the report.
But in a meeting Friday with colleagues, Cook described himself as "a square peg in a round hole," three people said.
The first evidence of discontent bubbled to the surface in a conference call with analysts in May, when Iger described the studio's performance as "disappointing" -- and placed the blame on Burbank's doorstep, criticizing the choice of films and the execution. Cook's departure comes nearly three weeks after Disney agreed to buy comic-book publisher Marvel Entertainment, producer of the "Spider-Man" and "Iron Man" movies, for $4 billion.
Disney's box-office performance for the last year has been propped up in large part by Pixar Animation Studios. Disney's attempts to create branded franchises that can be spread throughout the company's theme parks, TV and interactive divisions, a key priority, have been lackluster. July's "G-Force," March's "Race to Witch Mountain" and last Christmas' "Bedtime Stories" were all box-office disappointments.
Still, this summer's Touchstone-branded romantic comedy "The Proposal" was a surprise hit, selling more than $161 million of tickets domestically. And April's "Hannah Montana: the Movie," based on the Disney Channel series, grossed a solid $80 million. Pixar's "Up" has already collected $415 million around the world and is likely to exceed $600 million after finishing its foreign run.
Nonetheless, problems extended beyond the box office.
Cook, the onetime Disneyland ride operator who rose to head the studio, is viewed as a traditionalist at a time when Iger is seeking new ways of doing business. Cook tended to be uncommunicative to the point of secretiveness -- a personal style that frustrated Iger, who emphasizes collaboration.
