Is "80 DAYS" Another Nail in Eisner's Coffin?

Don't know how many of our loyal readers have been following the civil war at Disney over Michael Eisner's leadership, but Fox 411 claims that there is more bad news for the embattled CEO. AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS may be another lemon for Disney. The article does not review the movie at all (though Ebert really liked it) but notes that it has taken in almost no cash, considering it is a major family film starring Jackie Chan (a major family film star) If this is true (at the moment, any profit reports are just projections and estimates) and the film does not bounce back over the weekend, it may well be one more straw on the camel's back. It makes one wonder how long Eisner can remain at Disney when when Walt Disney's own relatives want him out.

Their big new $100 million-plus movie, "Around the World in 80 Days," opened on Wednesday to very little interest. Its take was about $1.5 million on over 2,700 screens...According to boxofficemojo.com, the negatively-reviewed movie starring Jackie Chan had a $540 per screen average. That translates into about 50 people per theater..."80 Days" finished at No. 7 on Wednesday. "Harry Potter," "Shrek 2" and "Garfield: The Movie" were the top three movies that night, and that's not a good thing since "80 Days" is being pegged as a family film. All of those others are family films, too, which means that over the weekend, families will likely be ignoring "80 Days" or viewing it as a fourth choic

My own guess is that Mr. Eisner will be ousted if and when Pixar announces they would only return to the Disney fold under new management. The House of Mouse wants a piece of the movie magic and money-making-machine that is Pixar, and no sane shareholder would let the CEO stand in the way of that kind of stock boost.