Disney has confirmed reboots of four previous Fox franchises that will land on Disney+. Back in 2017, it was revealed that the movie and TV divisions of 21st Century Fox could be up for sale. Several competing companies expressed interest in acquiring the studios and its assets, with the decision ultimately coming down to Comcast and Disney. Fox decided to sell to Disney at the end of the day, with the Mouse House paying a hefty $71 billion sum for the studio.
It took over a year, but Disney now has control of the properties that it paid for. Marvel Studios has their hands on the X-Men and Fantastic Four for the first time, but they aren’t fast-tracking either of them to be in Phase 4 as far as we know. Franchises like Avatar and Kingsman have new installments already on the way based on decisions made by Fox, but plenty of other known properties have been left in limbo. Now we know that four of them are getting a new spin on Disney’s streaming service.
As part of Disney’s earnings call for the third quarter of 2019, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that four Fox franchises will be rebooted on Disney+. He revealed that Home Alone, Cheaper by the Dozen, Night at the Museum, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid are will be among the first batch of reimaginings. No timetable for when any of the projects will arrive was announced.
The Home Alone franchise started in 1990, with the Macaulay Culkin-led films grossing over $700 million worldwide combined. Additional sequels have been made since 1992, but only one hit theaters, as two others went straight to home video. Steve Martin led two Cheaper by the Dozen movies in 2003 and 2005, and they earned over $300 million worldwide. The Night at the Museum trilogy from Ben Stiller is the most successful of the group, as they earned over $1.3 billion globally between 2006 and 2014. On the flip side, Diary of a Wimpy Kid had a trilogy of films release annually from 2010-2012, with each earning roughly $70M worldwide. Fox’s attempt to reboot the series in 2017 saw interest dip substantially and made only $40M.
Each of these titles represents varying degrees of success for Fox, but it’s easy to see why Disney would want to reboot them all. These four Fox titles are all movies that clearly fit under the Disney brand, with family-friendly premises, but avenues for new interpretations to be had. This reboot/remake/reimagining strategy is something that Disney is doing a lot of as of late (as is all of Hollywood). The difference here is that unlike most of Disney’s past reboots, these will go to streaming, similar to their live-action Lady and the Tramp film. With that title and these new ones from Fox properties, it’s clear that Disney is willing to forgo potential box office revenue if it means more subscribers and views for Disney+. Whether or not these four titles help them in that area remains to be seen.
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