Is Disney Already Lining Up Bob Chapek’s Replacement?

We’ve been informed by sources with very ties to Disney that Bob Chapek might be getting some help in the form of Peter Rice.

We’ve been informed that Disney is looking to give Rice a more active role in the day to day management of the company.

Basically, we were told he’d be acting as Chapek’s number two and will be overseeing a lot of Disney’s operations in Europe.

Here’s what our source had to say on the matter:

I’m hearing word of a new head being brought in to help him [Chapek]. Remember the name, Peter Rice.

I then pressed the source for a bit more information, and they had this to add:

It looks like Rice is going to be brought in to help Chapek by handling some of the day to day management of certain areas within the company. It also sounds like he could end up managing much of Disney’s operations in Europe and might even start handling talents directly rather than Chapek.

Is Bob Chapek going to be replaced as Disney’s CEO?

Read more: Disney In Turmoil – Creators Are Not Happy With Bob Chapek

OK, so let’s take some time to find out who is Peter Rice.

That name probably won’t be familiar to you. It certainly wasn’t to me when I was told about him.

I did a pretty quick Google search on him and turns out that he’s been an executive at Disney since 2019.

His current title is Chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content for The Walt Disney Company (a bit of a mouthful…)

So, he’s already a pretty big cheese at Disney, and it looks like he’s going to be a lot more hands-on than he was before.

Who is Peter Rice?

Credit: Latour/Variety/REX/Shutterstock

Read more: Trouble At Disney: Kevin Feige Vs. Bob Chapek

Before that, he was President of Fox Searchlight Pictures and was then promoted to President of 21st Century Fox in 2017. 

Rice continues to serve as Chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group and is also the Chairman of the Board of National Geographic Partners and a member of the Board of Directors for Hulu.

Rice basically ended up at Disney after they acquired 20th Century Fox and might turn out to be one of the best assets they ended up with. (Forget Avatar, Alien, Predator, The Simpsons… It’s Peter Rice Disney wanted all along…)

If you just glance at Rice’s Wikipedia page, it becomes clear that he’s a highly successful individual.

For instance, in 2017, under Rice’s leadership, Fox Networks Group received 153 Primetime and Sports Emmy nominations and won a collective 26 Emmys!

Did Chapek ever do that…? No, I didn’t think so.

Will Peter Rice be Bob Chapek’s number 2 at Disney?

Credit: Disney

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So, it seems as though Rice is someone with the background and the understanding to help Disney get back to where they were under Bob Iger.

It’s no secret that things haven’t been smooth sailing at Disney since Chapek became CEO.

We’ve already covered a lot of what’s been happening between Chapek and creatives at Disney.

Long story short, people ain’t happy at Disney.

Perhaps this is why Rice is being catapulted in to help steady the ship.

And, perhaps, Rice is better at working directly with talent than Chapek?

That’s definitely been a problem since he took over as Disney’s CEO.

It’s something that Bob Iger was very good at, and maybe Rice just has more experience working directly with talent than Chapek and is better at it. (That wouldn’t be very hard to do…).

That’s very much what our source was hinting at, and I personally think having someone of Rice’s background, skills and experience could really help the House Of Mouse in the long run.

Anyway, what do you make of all of this?

What do you make of what’s been going on at Disney since Chape was announced as the new CEO?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and we DO read all of them. I mean it!

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