Almost a year and a half after it was first announced, the merger of most of 21st Century Fox’s assets and the Walt Disney company has finally been completed. Of course, it’s a merger in technical terms only. In truth, it’s an acquisition, one that Hollywood’s creative community has tried to embrace with optimism and one that superhero fans have selfishly clamored for. There have been significant changes to the landscape since the merger was announced but it doesn’t change one important fact: thousands of people will likely lose their jobs.
Wait, that got a little too real for ya, right?
Obviously, business is business and layoffs are nothing new in America. Every significant change in Hollywood from the collapse of the physical home entertainment business to mini-majors that have come and gone to an internet boom that left a trail of failed online destinations has brought them. You could argue, however, that something on this scale hasn’t been seen since Columbia Pictures and Tri-Star Pictures were acquired by SONY in 1989, Disney’s merger with ABC in 1995, the short-lived Viacom-CBS merger in 2000 or Comcast‘s takeover of NBCUniversal in 2011. The difference, in this case, is that there is so much overlap between the two companies. Two historic movie studios with duplicate departments across the board. Sadly, there will be many talented longtime employees of Fox who get lost in the shuffle. They have known it’s been coming for a long time, but it will still sting like a motherf***er. But, hey, who’s excited about what happens to the Fantastic Four next?
That sort of speculation over what will happen now with Marvel Studios having major characters back into the fold, valuable creative properties and Disney now controlling a library of classic films since 1935 has been non-stop since the news first broke. Frankly, what will be, will be. What we can hope for, though, is more than just R-rated superhero movies and new “Avatar” rides at Disney parks around the world. Thousands of voices, hands, sweat, and tears went into building what 20th Century Fox and its sister companies are today. And that’s where we begin our respectful pleas to Disney’s senior management.
20th Century Fox needs to release more than 4 movies a year
With current 20th Chairperson Stacey Snider officially gone (hopefully to the same position at Warner Bros.), Emma Watts will guide the remnants of “Big Fox” under the Walt Disney Studios banner. There is already an assumption that Disney will reduce the number of Fox movies per year from 11-13 a year to 3-4. Keep in mind though that Disney has released between 8-12 over the past three years. Based on 2018’s figures Disney and Fox had a combined market share of 35% of the domestic box office (yes, that’s a lot). Studios and theater owners count on a selection of diverse fare to lure moviegoers to their local multiplex. Big Fox was one of the few studios still playing by that diverse model (and pretty successfully). If Disney truly cuts down 20th to just a minor label with few releases a year it will significantly impact the moviegoing experience. Sure, there will likely be some entity who will fill the void (one of the biggest benefactors could be the recently announced United Artists Releasing), but why would you miss out on revenue opportunities for your shareholders? This is something Disney is likely to address during a rare two-hour long presentation for theater owners from around the globe at CinemaCon in two weeks.
Don’t overdo the streaming movie plan
There has been a lot of conversation about the 20th, Fox 2000 and Fox Searchlight brands contributing original movies for the Hulu or the upcoming Disney+ streaming service. In Disney CEO Bob Iger’s E-mail to employees at the close of the sale, even he noted that it was all about “making direct connections with consumers,” ie, streaming. That’s intriguing, but we’re pretty close to an original streaming movie glut. The reason Netflix has invested so much into original films is because of a lack of a bountiful film library (basically, they are starting from scratch). That’s not a problem 20th Century Fox or Walt Disney Studios have. Granted, writers, directors, and actors are looking for work in this town, but perhaps less is a little more in this case.
Let diverse voices continue to reign
The stark difference between 20th Century Fox as a major studio and Walt Disney Studios is not only the more “adult” content (films Disney hasn’t made since the Touchstone label was a major force almost two decades ago) but a diverse set of voices. Granted, that has changed recently with the filmmakers on Marvel Studios slate and Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” but over the past 25 years, Fox has produced films telling stories from underserved communities – especially the African-American community, in a broad, studio style. “Waiting to Exhale,” “Soul Food,” “The Object of My Affection,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” “Drumline,” “Big Momma’s House,” Hidden Figures,” “Love Simon” and “The Hate U Give.” Its ebbed and flowed, but in this welcome new era of diversity on screen and behind the camera the 20th banner is an opportunity to keep these stories in theaters.
Keep historical relationships alive
It’s still unclear what will happen with New Regency’s longterm deal with Fox now that Disney has acquired it, but the production entity has been at the center of Ridley Scott‘s long reign at the studio. Scott has made “All the Money in the World” for Sony, but there would be something sad about the 81-year-old’s last Fox film being “Alien: Covenant.” New Regency has also been behind both the last two Steve McQueen and Alejandro G. Iñárritu films (two of which won Best Picture). Other celebrated filmmakers such as Baz Luhrmann and James Mangold have made a majority of their films at the studio. These names have brought prestige and a voice to 20th over the past few decades. Keeping these storytellers under the 20th banner would be a very smart move. As would Matt Reeves, Matthew Vaughn, and Paul Feig, too. And, yes, with four upcoming “Avatar” films James Cameron is a given and it hasn’t been lost on us that there are no women eligible for this pitch.
Finds ways to keep the history of 20th Century Fox alive
One of the detriments of SONY’s acquisition of Columbia Pictures over the years is it somehow diminished the studio’s historical contributions. That studio was originally founded in 1924 (it’s 95 years old) and you never hear it waxed about like the other majors. That’s what happens when a company gets under the auspices of another major brand. Disney has never been shy about celebrating their own legendary rise and should find ways to make sure 20th’s long reign isn’t forgotten either. That will be slightly difficult with the historic lot going to the Murdoch run “New Fox,” but perhaps it’s time the Hollywood portion of Disneyland’s California Adventure and Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios should get a Fox-inspired facelift? Disney may be turning 100 years old in just four years, but Fox turns 90 in just six.
Dear god leave FX, Fox Searchlight and NatGeo alone
This is sort of a given since Disney announced the set up of the FX Network, Fox Searchlight, and National Geographic, but excuse us for a friendly reminder to let them do their own thing. All three divisions will provide content to either of Disney’s streaming services, but on its’ own FX is a profitable creator of celebrated content. Searchlight knows how to make money on a limited release to wide release model. Gutting their distribution and marketing teams would be a mistake as Disney’s own departments have shown little success in that particular arena. National Geographic has been incredibly successful in growing its brand from a historically problematic magazine to a popular TV network, Oscar-winning documentary film producer and online leader (104 million Instagram followers and counting) with its own particular style. If you fiddle with it you may break it and that’s a waste on your investment.
Let 20th take big creative risks
Disney’s divisions haven’t all had success breaking out of the box recently. “Solo: A Star Wars Story” was a production and release mess that has Lucasfilm putting all spin-off films on indefinite hold. “Black Panther” and “Captain Marvel,” on the other hand, proved Marvel Studios can take relatively unknown characters and turn them into critically acclaimed billion-dollar franchises (and Best Picture nominees too boot). As for 20th Century Fox, it’s coming off fourteen months where it produced a word of mouth original musical that became a global smash (“The Greatest Showman”), a financially successful gay teen comedy (“Love Simon”) and it distributed a Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic that whatever your thoughts on the film itself still earned almost $880 million worldwide (“Bohemian Rhapsody”). Big Fox also made multiple R-rated superhero movies a major profit center but you knew that already. How much of those projects success laid with Snider remains to be seen, but they are an example of getting out of your comfort zone in a manner that doesn’t always fit Disney’s theatrical release structure. I mean, 20th released sing-along versions to both “Showman” and “Rhapsody” and Disney didn’t hint at going down that road with its own musical hit this year, “Mary Poppins Returns.”
Have a sense of humor
Basically, let Ryan Reynolds, aka “Deadpool” continue to make fun of you. The “Avengers” cast members who live on social media often poke fun at themselves, but rarely at their golden goose, Marvel Studios or Disney itself. Reynolds has been busting on Disney since he began promoting “Deadpool 2” last year and hasn’t stopped since. Don’t let it get under your skin, Disney. It’s all with love (maybe).
Consider buying the historic Fox lot from “New Fox”
Whether it’s a year or two down the road, consider buying the current Fox lot in Century City from “New Fox.” Studio space is at a premium in the era of peak TV and the facilities, including a New York street set, are something Disney’s small lot is currently lacking. The Murdochs may want to own it now for their FOX network and Fox Sports headquarters, but they could easily lease those out after a sale. With Netflix trying to snatch up as many stages around Los Angeles up as possible, it might be a very, very smart investment from a general content perspective. Why it wasn’t part of the original deal is beyond me.