Disney has officially dropped the Fox name from the film division assets it acquired from the 21st Century Fox.
Variety reports The Walt Disney Company has officially rebranded 20th Century Fox as 20th Century Studios while Fox Searchlight Pictures will not become Searchlight Pictures. On the television side, no final decisions have been made regarding new names of 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios. According to a source for the outlet, a consensus has not been reached about a possible name change.
Disney’s phasing out of the Fox name is already underway, with email addresses for Searchlight staff being changed from a fox.com address to a searchlightpictures.com address. Furthermore, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell’s next film Downhill will be the first Searchlight production to be released with the new logo, with the poster for the movie including a credit that reads, “Searchlight Pictures Presents.” Meanwhile, the upcoming family film titled Call of the Wild will be released under the 20th Century Studios banner.
According to the outlet, Disney won’t dramatically alter the 20th Century and Searchlight logos aside from removing the Fox name. Therefore, the iconic monolith, klieg lights, and triumphant music will still remain.
While Disney had acquired the 20th Century Fox film and TV studios from 21st Century Fox, the purchase did not include the Fox broadcast network or Fox News. Those entities remained a part of Fox Corp. under CEO Lachlan Murdoch, who had no reason to rebrand the company’s name. With the Fox name commonly associated with the CEO and the controversial right-wing news network, insiders have described Disney’s rebranding of the film and television divisions as ‘inevitable,’ with one insider telling Variety, “I think the Fox name means Murdoch, and that is toxic.”
Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on Disney and rebranded Fox divisions as it develops!
Source: Variety
