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Disney is Reportedly Putting Classic Fox Movies In Its Vault
Disney may be putting old Fox movies into its vault, strategically making them unavailable to for-profit theaters. The Disney/Fox merger has affected countless franchises and given Disney more clout in an industry it already owns a major chunk of. Perhaps most significantly, the $7.3 billion acquisition means that Disney has gained control over some of Fox's most popular genre franchises, including X-Men, Alien, and Fantastic Four. Maybe Doctor Doom will solve the MCU's glaring villain problem.
On the television side, things get a bit trickier. But the merger, coupled with the imminent launch of the Disney+ streaming service, made afterthoughts out of Fox's older titles and reportedly prompted Disney to archive films that weren't deemed high priorities.
Vulture reports that theater owners and festival/marathon directors are bearing the brunt of this blow. Columbus-based movie marathon director Joe Neff says that he can't show certain films because Disney is denying his requests to screen them. There had been rumors that Fox titles such as The Fly and The Omen would go the way of Disney's hard-to-find gems of yesteryear, but nothing was confirmed until Neff was denied permission to screen scheduled films. Unsurprisingly, these rejections extend far beyond Ohio festivals; programmers nationwide are feeling the effects of Disney's new strategy.
Fortunately, there has been pushback from programmers, audiences, and even big-name filmmakers such as Edgar Wright. This likely won't stop Disney from moving forward with its plans, but it is good to know that people are rallying behind Fox's classics.
Perhaps now that they own so much of the industry, Disney executives want to focus their attention on creating new content both for long-time fans and for posterity. Whether or not that's true is irrelevant, though. Screening historically significant films at big theaters preserves what came before and allows audiences to celebrate movies that shaped them. These programs take audiences back to the days when they had to crowd into a theater with strangers and allow a large gray screen to burn stories and experiences into their brains. That changed before we were ready.
The advent of streaming entertainment has brought with it fears that "antiquated" moviegoing experiences could die out - especially for films that aren't big-budget franchise blockbusters. Movies such as The Report and The Irishman have mere weeks to make money in theaters before they stream on their respective services (Amazon and Netflix). Now, with Disney's recent move to make even more films unavailable, the experience of revisiting classic films on the big screen is being threatened as well.
There's definitely a method to Disney's madness, but that method could signal the end-times for many programs that cinephiles love. Here's hoping that theaters, festivals, and movie marathons can survive in such a fickle climate.
