21st Century Fox becomes 20th Century Studios

WhatJaneSays

WhatJaneSays

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
[From Variety]

The movie studio 21st Century Fox is being re-branded to "20th Century Studios" (or maybe rather returned to?) and Fox Searchlight to "Searchlight Pictures". So far the television side names have remained, but they are probably more considerations that have to be made on the broadcast side before any formal name changes happen.

It looks like Call of the Wild will probably be the first movie released with the new branding and logos. It's unknown if movies currently in theaters will be updated.
 
D

Darkprime

Well-Known Member
Cant help but wonder if this is a move to try and elevate any anti-trust concerns as well. Given the concerns among critics with how big Disney has gotten. What Disney are doing here is essentially rebooting 20th Century Fox. Dropping the Fox brand is basically stripping the studio of any real value it currently has outside of its IPs which the majority of will or have already moved under Walt Disney Studios or Marvel Studios etc. Losing the Fox name means it loses the industry wide prestige its held for the past 80-90 years. And its now essentially an indie studio owned by Disney thats starting from scratch. I wonder if they'll sell the Fox name to another studio. Maybe Amazon or Netflix or just sell it back to Murdoch or something?
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Darkprime said:
Cant help but wonder if this is a move to try and elevate any anti-trust concerns as well. Given the concerns among critics with how big Disney has gotten. What Disney are doing here is essentially rebooting 20th Century Fox. Dropping the Fox brand is basically stripping the studio of any real value it currently has outside of its IPs which the majority of will or have already moved under Walt Disney Studios or Marvel Studios etc. Losing the Fox name means it loses the industry wide prestige its held for the past 80-90 years. And its now essentially an indie studio owned by Disney thats starting from scratch. I wonder if they'll sell the Fox name to another studio. Maybe Amazon or Netflix or just sell it back to Murdoch or something?
Click to expand...

I think they are just avoiding brand confusion. Murdoch still owns "Fox" so seems murky that Disney could sell it. I don't think Disney will have much trouble gaining acceptance of this new Studio as one of their own as they did with Marvel etc.

Just wondering if the new icon will be added to Disney+. Really hoping they rotate some classic movies through under the label. Also opens up the possibility of seeing the brand show up at DHS. I'm starting to think a new GMR would be interesting. Just kidding. I know that isn't happening. But perhaps a museum like was done with One Man's Dream.
 
R

RandySavage

Well-Known Member
Do people think 20th Century will be still be releasing movies in a few years time?

To me it looks like the writing's on the wall (no live action productions announced for 2021, other than Avatar 2) and 20th Century will shortly go the way of Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures.

From the announcement of the acquistion, one knew Disney wouldn't want to release 2x their pre-acquisition number of Studio movies (40M+ budget) per year (i.e., keep the old 20th Century Fox annual release schedule).

I'd like to be wrong on this.
 
CJR

CJR

Well-Known Member
I don't like change, but sometimes it's necessary. I'll miss the Fox logo as it was, but honestly, it's just a name. One that is still mostly the same, and it will still have the drums at the beginning. Given the "two Fox companies" situation, this is a good move.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
RandySavage said:
Do people think 20th Century will be still be releasing movies in a few years time?

To me it looks like the writing's on the wall (no live action productions announced for 2021, other than Avatar 2) and 20th Century will shortly go the way of Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures.

From the announcement of the acquistion, one knew Disney wouldn't want to release 2x their pre-acquisition number of Studio movies (40M+ budget) per year (i.e., keep the old 20th Century Fox annual release schedule).

I'd like to be wrong on this.
Click to expand...

They may want to start producing more films that can be considered as "awards contenders" and less traditional Disney. They may want that under a different banner. Sort of a Miramax studio without the extremes. Saving Mr Banks proves Disney can do dramas that could win Best Picture for example.
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
RandySavage said:
Do people think 20th Century will be still be releasing movies in a few years time?

To me it looks like the writing's on the wall (no live action productions announced for 2021, other than Avatar 2) and 20th Century will shortly go the way of Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures.

From the announcement of the acquistion, one knew Disney wouldn't want to release 2x their pre-acquisition number of Studio movies (40M+ budget) per year (i.e., keep the old 20th Century Fox annual release schedule).

I'd like to be wrong on this.
Click to expand...

You are certainly not wrong, from the very outset Bob talked about leaning down the Fox slate. But I imagine they’ll move it towards being like any other one of their studios. Responsible for non-Disney ‘brand safe’ bigger budget films, max 4 a year, if not 2-3.

I really only see Searchlight escaping unchanged. It’s been a viable studio model for them for a while.

But they need somewhere to put the non-Family films that are seen as box office ploys, rather than awards fodder. For that I see an ongoing role for 20th Century.
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
jt04 said:
They may want to start producing more films that can be considered as "awards contenders" and less traditional Disney. They may want that under a different banner. Sort of a Miramax studio without the extremes. Saving Mr Banks proves Disney can do dramas that could win Best Picture for example.
Click to expand...

Thats the role of Searchlight in Disney’s portfolio. Not 20th Century.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
BrianLo said:
Thats the role of Searchlight in Disney’s portfolio. Not 20th Century.
Click to expand...

We'll see how it all shakes out in time. Maybe one will be specialized in theater films and one streaming content (on par with GoT for example)

I have to believe any production that is aware it will open with the traditional 20th Century fanfare would feel obligated to live up to that tradition. Just thinking out loud.
 
Tony Perkis

Tony Perkis

Well-Known Member
jt04 said:
Saving Mr Banks proves Disney can do dramas that could win Best Picture for example.
Click to expand...

Hahaha, what?

Saving Mr. Banks was nominated for one Oscar: best original score. Disney is so far behind every other major (and middle) studio in regards to top tier Oscar consideration.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Tony Perkis said:
Hahaha, what?

Saving Mr. Banks was nominated for one Oscar: best original score. Disney is so far behind every other major (and middle) studio in regards to top tier Oscar consideration.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a challenge they may want to tackle. Another mountain to climb.

20th Century has many wins incl BP.
 
Last edited:
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Tony Perkis said:
That....doesn’t address how SMB wasn’t an Oscar contender.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure it got votes but did not make it to a nomination. Black Panther got a nomination.

My point was SMB is proof Disney can make serious dramas. AFI had it in their top 10 for the year. This won't be an overnight process. If Disney wants to compete in this arena.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom