Disney Theme Parks Have Lost $1 Billion Due to Coronavirus Closures

Walt Disney executives provided the first official details on the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had across their businesses, particularly on their theme parks, cruise lines, and experiences, during a quarterly investors call Tuesday. Disney revealed its earnings plummeted 63% during the second quarter of 2020 when COVID-19 forced the closures of theme parks, theaters, and other consumer-facing facets of the Disney empire. The company estimates it lost $1.4 billion this quarter, $1 billion from theme parks alone. (And yet Disney still posted $18 billion in quarterly revenue.) [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/06/we-rode-star-wars-rise-of-the-resistance-at-galaxys-edge"] While Disney theme parks and resorts, such as Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney World in Orlando, remain indefinitely closed, the company announced that Shanghai Disneyland will reopen May 11. One saving grace for the conglomerate remains the Disney+ streaming service, which expanded operations into Europe and India and has now garnered 54.5 million subscribers worldwide. Speaking of streaming, while Disney reaffirmed its commitment and love of the theatrical filmgoing experience, they also reiterated that they will pivot some movies once earmarked for cinemas to digital instead. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=disney-plus-spotlight-may-2020&captions=true"] "We also believe that either because of changing and evolving consumer dynamics or because of certain situations like COVID, we may have to make some changes to that overall strategy," said Disney CEO Bob Chapek. "We’re going to evaluate each of our movies as a case-by-case situation, as we are doing during this coronavirus situation.” For more Disney coverage, check out these new attractions you can look forward to when the parks reopen, such as Avengers Campus and the Spider-Man ride featuring Tom Holland.