Disney has dropped several Fox movies in the wake of its acquisition of the studio’s assets. While the Disney-Fox deal was set in motion in late 2017, it took about 15 months for the Mouse House to officially finalize the purchase (at the hefty price of $71.3 billion). Since then, most of the predictions about the bad side of the deal have come true, with Disney laying off large numbers of employees, closing down the Fox 2000 label, and cancelling Fox projects that were in pre-production, as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to reduce costs and restructure Fox as a whole.
The House that Mickey Built has already axed one major tentpole in the form of Fox’s Mouse Guard comic book adaptation, which was scheduled to begin production by the start of May. Meanwhile, Disney film studio chief Alan Horn is said to be assessing just about every Fox project that’s in development right now and deciding whether to hang onto them or give them the boot. Of course, there are a few movies that appear to be completely safe at the moment (most notably, James Cameron’s Avatar sequels).
According to THR, Horn has already dropped the Tom Hanks period drama News of the World from Fox’s production slate, along with the Angie Thomas novel adaptation On the Come Up and Mouse Guard. Woody Harrelson’s mental hospital dramedy Fruit Loops is similarly expected to be cancelled in the near future, especially since it was one of the films being developed by Fox 2000 prior to its closure. THR’s sources also say the decision to drop On the Come Up was the result of The Hate U Give - another film adaptation of Thomas’ work - losing Fox $30 to 40 million at last year’s box office, despite being all but universally praised by critics.
Among the developing Fox movies that Disney’s expected to keep are Matthew Vaughn’s prequel Kingsman: The Great Game, the R.L. Stine Fear Street adaptation, Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile (a sequel to his Murder on the Orient Express adaptation), and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake. The latter, amusingly enough, has nevertheless caused some ire over plans to show characters smoking in the film (something that’s taboo in Disney movies these days). The Ryan Reynolds-led video game comedy Free Guy is also staying put for the time being, and there’s a good chance that The Ballad of Richard Jewell - a docudrama about the security guard that foiled the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing attempt - will land a green-light at Fox, with Clint Eastwood potentially directing.
Overall, the Disney-Fox deal is playing out exactly as predicted so far, resulting in fewer movies being made and more projects being subjected to increased scrutiny or interference. Of course, the deal was never about benefitting Fox’s employees and its projects; it was about giving the Mouse House more content to include when it launches its Disney Plus streaming service this fall. The fallout from the deal isn’t over yet either, so keep your eyes peeled for similar updates in the near future.
Source: THR
