Walt Disney Studios

Once considered one of the most powerful and sought-after positions in Hollywood, running Walt Disney Studios - the 89-year-old Burbank institution behind "Snow White," "Mary Poppins" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" - now seems about as desirable as playing Goofy on a hot day at Disneyland. But since Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger fired his studio head Rich Ross last week, the buzz in Hollywood has been less about who's angling for the studio chairman job and more about who would want it. The reason: Iger's strategy of turning Disney into a collection of brands means that most of the films it releases are not overseen or greenlighted by the movie studio chief, as they are at rival companies.

Once considered one of the most powerful and sought-after positions in Hollywood, running Walt Disney Studios - the 89-year-old Burbank institution behind "Snow White," "Mary Poppins" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" - now seems about as desirable as playing Goofy on a hot day at Disneyland. But since Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger fired his studio head Rich Ross last week, the buzz in Hollywood has been less about who's angling for the studio chairman job and more about who would want it. The reason: Iger's strategy of turning Disney into a collection of brands means that most of the films it releases are not overseen or greenlighted by the movie studio chief, as they are at rival companies.

Rich Ross, the television executive who helped revive the moribund Disney Channel, now has to prove he can work movie magic at Walt Disney Studios. The 47-year-old former talent department head has been, as expected, tapped by Disney Chief Executive Robert A. Iger to fill much of the studio post formerly held by Dick Cook, who was ousted last month after clashing with his boss and failing to deliver enough hits over the last year. Iger will look to Ross to reinvigorate Disney's flagging box-office fortunes and develop film franchises that can be sold across the entertainment giant's lines of businesses -- including theme parks, consumer products and television -- as well as grapple with a host of technological issues that are quickly reshaping Hollywood.

Walt Disney Studios' Martian adventure film "John Carter" appears to be heading, in the words of one financial analyst, "to the red ink planet. " Wall Street media analysts said the studio could lose $100 million to $165 million on its big-budget epic, which opened Friday in theaters worldwide. "We normally would not be changing estimates prior to a movie opening," Alan Gould, senior media and entertainment analyst at Evercore Partners, wrote in an investor note published Friday.

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.

Walt Disney Co. is poised to release "Up," another anticipated hit from Pixar Animation Studios. Studio brass hope the same will be true of the movie division's next quarterly earnings. Rather than attribute Disney Studios' dismal results to the weak global economy, Chief Executive Robert A. Iger bluntly put the blame on Burbank's doorstep. The studio's operating income plummeted 97% in the company's second fiscal quarter to $13 million, down from $377 million a year earlier.

Michael Peyser has been named senior vice president-production at Hollywood Pictures, the newly established independent production company of Walt Disney Studios, Burbank.

After a glut of family films opened over the Thanksgiving holiday, no new movies are slated to hit theaters nationwide this weekend — leaving a clan of felt "Muppets" to rule the box office. The post-Turkey Day weekend has traditionally been one of the slowest moviegoing periods of the year, as Americans emerge from their tryptophan-induced hazes and begin their holiday shopping. In 2010, it was the second-lowest-grossing weekend of the year, according to Box Office Mojo. This weekend, Walt Disney Studios' modern spin on "The Muppets" is expected to ring up about $20 million in ticket sales, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys.

In an effort to strengthen its retail business, Walt Disney Co. has consolidated sales of toys, books, apparel, DVDs and video games under a single division to be headed by Robert Chapek, the newly named president of consumer products. The former distribution chief for Walt Disney Studios will oversee an expanded consumer products group that will handle retail and licensing across the entertainment giant's businesses, from its film units — Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment and Disney — to the interactive media and television groups.

Netflix stock dropped nearly 9% on Friday as investors sold shares after news that the online video company would lose content from its most prominent supplier of new movies, Starz Entertainment. The breakdown in talks between the companies, announced Thursday, means that movies from Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures controlled by premium cable channel Starz will not be available when the two companies' agreement expires at the end of February. The dispute erupted over how much money Starz wanted from Netflix for its content and how much consumers would be charged.

In a blow to the fast-growing online video company, Netflix users will soon lose access to new movies from two of Hollywood's biggest studios. Premium cable network Starz Entertainment said Thursday that it will end a distribution agreement that provided Netflix's streaming Internet service with movies from Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures that have included "Tangled," Alice in Wonderland," and "The Karate Kid. " The surprising news...

Bill Justice, a former Walt Disney Studios animator who worked on classics such as "Fantasia," "Bambi" and "Alice in Wonderland" and later joined Walt Disney Imagineering where he helped program Audio-Animatronics figures for attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, died Thursday, a day after he turned 97. Justice died of natural causes in a nursing home in Santa Monica, said Ted King, a family friend. An Ohio native who launched his career at Walt Disney Studios in 1937, Justice's credits as a Disney animator include "Saludos Amigos," "Victory Through Air Power," "The Three Caballeros," "Make Mine Music" and "Peter Pan. " Among the characters Justice animated were Thumper in "Bambi" and the mischievous Chip 'n' Dale.

The late-night parties at the Sundance Film Festival are full of regulars, darlings of the independent-movie world who circulate in a small and clubby circle. Stalwart Sundance attendees like director Jason Reitman, executives such as Harvey Weinstein and actors including Zooey Deschanel and Paul Giamatti were again on the scene, popping into dinners feting various films, showing up at premiere parties, and congregating in the hotels and screening rooms that dot this crowded Utah town.

Rich Ross, the television executive who helped revive the moribund Disney Channel, now has to prove he can work movie magic at Walt Disney Studios. The 47-year-old former talent department head has been, as expected, tapped by Disney Chief Executive Robert A. Iger to fill much of the studio post formerly held by Dick Cook, who was ousted last month after clashing with his boss and failing to deliver enough hits over the last year. Iger will look to Ross to reinvigorate Disney's flagging box-office fortunes and develop film franchises that can be sold across the entertainment giant's lines of businesses -- including theme parks, consumer products and television -- as well as grapple with a host of technological issues that are quickly reshaping Hollywood.

After months of negotiations with various buyers that failed to bear fruit, Walt Disney Co. finally reached a deal to sell its Miramax Films unit in a deal that severs the independent movie pioneer's 17-year association with the Burbank studio. Disney late Thursday signed a definitive agreement to sell Miramax to Filmyard Holding, an investor group led by Los Angeles construction magnate Ron Tutor, for more than $660 million, putting the future of the company with a long string of award-winning films into the hands of a Hollywood outsider.