It’s an end of a Hollywood era, it seems. The name associated with such fan-favorite movies as Star Wars, Die Hard, Home Alone, and Ever After is no more. After Disney’s acquisition of Fox assets, it will be dropping its name from the brand.
On Disney’s quest for world dominance, it closed a $71 billion deal to acquire Fox Searchlight and 20th Century Fox. Fox itself has still retained some independence with Fox Entertainment, Fox Sports, and Fox News, but they do not fall under the Disney umbrella. Perhaps in an effort to separate the two entities, Disney will rebrand 20th Century Fox as 20th Century Studios. It will also rebrand Fox Searchlight as Searchlight Pictures. Leonard Maltin, the film critic, and historian stated:
The name 20th Century Fox has deep roots in film, so it’s chipping away a little chunk of Hollywood history. It’s one of the pillars of the moviegoing experience. Even a non-film buff recognizes that logo, that name and that music, which is one of the most famous fanfares in the world.”
The brand has been around since 1935 when Twentieth Century Pictures and Fox Films merged. Now that Disney has taken on this studio, 2019 was an interesting year. Dark Phoenix and Stuber fell flat in theaters, but Jojo Rabbit and Ford v Ferrari did very well.
The first moviegoers will be able to see of this change is in Searchlight Pictures’ Downhill that stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell on February 14th. And from the newly rebranded 20th Centruy Studios, The Call of The Wild starring Harrison Ford will also come to theaters February 21st.
It’s unknown so far if any other significant changes will be made to the iconic logo and sound. With Disney and Fox continuing to argue over the rights to Spider-man, the future is uncertain with these two movie giants.