The Walt Disney Company has decided to drop the Fox title as Disney is planning to rebrand the studios they acquired last year in the historic deal, and will now be known as 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Studios.
According to Variey, the move may have been in part as a way to distance themselves from “Fox News” which Disney does not own, as it was not apart of the acquisition. An industry insider told the trade, “I think the Fox name means Murdoch, and that is toxic.”
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Here is an excerpt from Variety’s report regarding the rebranding of the storied studio:
Disney has already started the process to phase out the Fox name: Email addresses have changed for Searchlight staffers, with the fox.com address replaced with a searchlightpictures.com address. On the poster for Searchlight’s next film “Downhill,” with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell, the credits begin with “Searchlight Pictures Presents.” The film will be the first Searchlight release to debut with the new logo. “Call of the Wild,” an upcoming family film, will be released under the 20th Century banner, sans Fox.
Read: Fox Searchlight Team Up With James Mangold And Timothee Chalamet For “Going Electric”
Besides the name change, the studios will operate as normal, becoming a place where Disney can release material outside of their family-friendly content. Which includes franchises like Alien, Kingsman, Planet of the Apes, and of course Avatar.
20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studio will continue to use the Fox name for now, but there are discussions currently underway to change those as some point as well.
Source: Variety
