Disney/FOX Acquisition Thread

[RFRees]

She's an excellent Studio chief and imo, Disney is foolish for letting her walk.

Or forcing her. They could have offered her a "lateral move", could have essentially been a demotion that she wasn't supposed to accept, forcing her to resign. They could have wanted her out for many reasons (her price, internal politics, redundancy, etc).

Edit: I'm only saying we don't know, I'm not assuming anything myself.

 

[MrBlonde]

My best guess? Fox's (yes I'm saying Fox even thought it's 20th Century) slate is gutted and she's merely following marching orders given by the corporation rather than independently developing her own studio's slate, why pay her to lead a studio that's now more of a marketing name than anything else? I wonder where she ends up next.

 

[Legacy]

WB needs to spend all they money it has on her.

 

[Nick]

My best guess? Fox's (yes I'm saying Fox even thought it's 20th Century) slate is gutted and she's merely following marching orders given by the corporation rather than independently developing her own studio's slate, why pay her to lead a studio that's now more of a marketing name than anything else? I wonder where she ends up next.

I agree her position was redundant, but honestly, she's got so much career ahead of her whereas Iger literally pulled Alan Horn out of retirement to run Disney's Studio division. The smart move imo would've been to promote Watts to Chief of Walt Disney Studios and send Horn back into retirement.

 

[Viator]

Blue Sky Studios has now been set, to close by April.

Disney Closing Blue Sky Studios, Fox’s Once-Dominant Animation House Behind ‘Ice Age’ Franchise

Disney is shuttering Blue Sky Studios, the former 20th Century Fox animation division behind the Ice Age franchise.

deadline.com

 

[RevFreako]

Blue Sky Studios has now been set, to close by April.

Disney Closing Blue Sky Studios, Fox’s Once-Dominant Animation House Behind ‘Ice Age’ Franchise

Disney is shuttering Blue Sky Studios, the former 20th Century Fox animation division behind the Ice Age franchise.

deadline.com

Doesn't look like much of value to Disney was lost.

 

[joelbryant11]

Not shocking, but still unfortunate. Hopefully everyone lands on their feet whether it’s at Disney or elsewhere. ESPN is close by, I wonder if there are similar positions that division could offer those impacted

 

[DeadSexeh]

Well that stinks. Their movies weren't amazing but always a solid, easy watch with no thinking involved. What always worries me about studios being shuddered and absorbed is that the uniqueness of the studios will be gone. Blue sky had its own unique style and that will be gone, the IPs may stay but I get the feeling that they will begin to feel much different than they used to.

 

[Nick]

Disney has been putting Blue Sky's catalog on Disney+, but they really have no use for the animation studio other than that. They can make new Ice Age content (which is in development for Disney+) from WDAS. Disney has no use for Blue Sky as a running animation studio though. Tbh, they probably only continued to operate as long as they have because they needed to finish work on Nimona, which will be Blue Sky's last film.

 

[rageofthegods]

Disney has been putting Blue Sky's of Disney+, but they really have no use for the animation studio other than that. They can make new Ice Age content (which is in development for Disney+) from WDAS. Disney has no use for Blue Sky as a running animation studio though. Tbh, they probably only continued to operate as long as they have because they needed to finish work on Nimona, which will be Blue Sky's last film.

Nimona was shut down.

I think they were planning to keep the studio until very recently; they appointed a new president in 2019 and closed down DisneyToon. Blue Sky may not have been the huge studio they once were, but they did make movies that were different from the Pixar and WDAS canon. But they were also stagnant for a long time and their budgets tended towards the higher side, so I guess it just didn't make sense to keep them on.

 

[Clive]

I hate to say I called it, but I called it - somewhere on these forums. There's just no world for Blue Sky when both WDAS and Pixar have their theatrical slate covered.

 

[Nick]

I hate to say I called it, but I called it - somewhere on these forums. There's just no world for Blue Sky when both WDAS and Pixar have their theatrical slate covered.

I think it actually easily could’ve worked. There’s plenty of successful animated movies each year that aren’t WDAS or Pixar. I simply think Disney had no desire to invest in Blue Sky moving forward. They do plan to take advantage of existing IPs, but they likely didn’t want to pay people to run an animation theater they have no plans if actually using.

It’s not like Blue Sky is a recognizable name brand studio like Dreamworks, either.

 

[Clive]

I think it actually easily could’ve worked. There’s plenty of successful animated movies each year that aren’t WDAS or Pixar. I simply think Disney had no desire to invest in Blue Sky moving forward. They do plan to take advantage of existing IPs, but they likely didn’t want to pay people to run an animation theater they have no plans if actually using.

It’s not like Blue Sky is a recognizable name brand studio like Dreamworks, either.

I'll disagree with you here - if the average American moviegoer saw 3-4 movies in theaters pre-COVID, Disney would only be competing against themselves with 3 theatrically-driven studios. Sure, Blue Sky could've been used for Disney+ or other televised content, but it's a machine built for theatrical, and they've already scraped up the useful IPs and most valuable talent.

 

[Nick]

So I guess I wonder... does Disney own the unreleased screenplay of Nimona? With the hard work on Nimona done, it would be an easy movie to jumpstart a new animation studio if someone else was allowed to keep it (or purchase it from Disney?).

This could be a good chance for a new independent animated studio to pop up and maybe do some work for streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Apple TV+, etc.

Or this would also be a good chance for Netflix, Amazon or Apple TV to simply form their own animation studio.

 

[rageofthegods]

So I guess I wonder... does Disney own the unreleased screenplay of Nimona? With the hard work on Nimona done, it would be an easy movie to jumpstart a new animation studio if someone else was allowed to keep it (or purchase it from Disney?).

This could be a good chance for a new independent animated studio to pop up and maybe do some work for streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Apple TV+, etc.

Or this would also be a good chance for Netflix, Amazon or Apple TV to simply form their own animation studio.

Another studio can buy the project in turnaround. Disney won't/can't sit on projects if it doesn't want them, hence letting go of Spamalot.

My understanding is that it's hard to start a new animation studio (at least in NA) because there's already so much competition for talent and competition in the marketplace in general. Meledandri had to go to France to find animators.

 

[quinnmac000]

So I guess I wonder... does Disney own the unreleased screenplay of Nimona? With the hard work on Nimona done, it would be an easy movie to jumpstart a new animation studio if someone else was allowed to keep it (or purchase it from Disney?).

This could be a good chance for a new independent animated studio to pop up and maybe do some work for streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Apple TV+, etc.

Or this would also be a good chance for Netflix, Amazon or Apple TV to simply form their own animation studio.

Or a good chance for Dreamworks to pick it up....

I do find it interesting Disney dropped both projects based on Noelle's work....First they dropped Lumberjanes which is 100% Disney+ fare and they have some ownership over due to owning Boom Comics (Moved to HBO Max unclear what Animation studio), then they killed of Nimona which has been in works for 7 years.

 

[Nick]

Or a good chance for Dreamworks to pick it up....

I do find it interesting Disney dropped both projects based on Noelle's work....First they dropped Lumberjanes which is 100% Disney+ fare and they have some ownership over due to owning Boom Comics (Moved to HBO Max unclear what Animation studio), then they killed of Nimona which has been in works for 7 years.

Well, Disney's trying to prevent Dreamworks from being able to pickup anyone I think would be of any immense value to them as Disney is working to give certain Blue Sky employees new roles internally at WDAS or at Pixar.

 

[rageofthegods]

Well, Disney's trying to prevent Dreamworks from being able to pickup anyone I think would be of any immense value to them as Disney is working to give certain Blue Sky employees new roles internally at WDAS or at Pixar.

Ehh, I don't think Disney cares. If another studio wants to reimburse development costs, then fine, they don't have to write it down.

If they're fine with selling Fear Street to Netflix, then they'll be fine with this.

 

[graspthesun]

So I guess I wonder... does Disney own the unreleased screenplay of Nimona? With the hard work on Nimona done, it would be an easy movie to jumpstart a new animation studio if someone else was allowed to keep it (or purchase it from Disney?).

This could be a good chance for a new independent animated studio to pop up and maybe do some work for streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Apple TV+, etc.

Or this would also be a good chance for Netflix, Amazon or Apple TV to simply form their own animation studio.

According to Deadline, they were still 10 months out from finishing it and they just couldn't see the point in keeping the studio open and developing the movie, especially after Spies in Disguise failed to meet expectations.

 

[Nick]

According to Deadline, they were still 10 months out from finishing it and they just couldn't see the point in keeping the studio open and developing the movie, especially after Spies in Disguise failed to meet expectations.

I do wonder if Nimona will ever see the light of day in some form. Maybe as a short with Disney? That’s really the only way I can see it even being acknowledged. If they gave up on the movie, they obviously weren’t overly enthusiastic with what was being presented to them.