Outside of Marvel Characters What IP’s Are Now Owned by Disney After The Fox Takeover?

As we already know, Disney owns the vast majority of what used to be Fox and its many subsidiaries. Exactly what goes to Disney and what stays with Fox and goes elsewhere is all a bit technical when it comes to the business aspect, but from a movie and TV perspective, Disney get the lot.

I’m sure if you are a regular reader of LRM then you don’t need me to go over the Marvel IP’s coming back to Disney as we have been discussing these since the deal was first announced in 2017. But what about all the many other IP’s that will now be under Disney’s control? Let’s take a look at some of the properties now owned by Disney, shall we?

Alien and Predator

Those popular R-rated classic cinema monsters will now be owned by Disney and whilst Disney does not make R-rated movies, they have said previously they intend to keep releasing movies under the Fox banner that wouldn’t really fit with the Disney brand. If I am honest I feel like Fox has mismanaged both these properties over the years, perfectly demonstrated in the rather clumsy and slapstick Aliens Vs Predator movies, a great comic series turned into a laughing stock of a movie which amazingly got a sequel. Even on their own the IP’s have not met with a pleasant time. Shane Black’s The Predator was slated by fans and critics alike and even Ridley Scott returning to the Alien franchise couldn’t help Prometheus or Alien: Covenant from being disliked by most fans.

These properties will definitely not appear in Disney branding, but hopefully, Disney can refocus the path the movies take and actually for the first time in 30 years make a decent Alien or Predator movie? Two franchises that could be great with the right creative minds behind them one again.

Avatar

Yes, Disney now owns the rights to Avatar and its upcoming sequels and having access to the world’s biggest ever movie is no bad thing for Disney. Whether James Cameron’s sequels will capture the same kind of audiences as the original did seems unlikely, but who can say right now? Cameron is currently filming Avatar 2 and 3 back to back and if the movies should prove a hit with audiences again, he wants to go and film Avatar 4 and 5 next. The problem may be getting audiences to buy into the 3D experience again when the fad seems to have lost its edge in recent years. I know I never see any movies in 3D any longer, but, saying that, I would for Avatar 2.

I would expect with the PG-13 rating that Avatar will appear under the Disney brand from now on instead of Fox. Though we don’t know which direction James Cameron is going with his sequels, so if these movies fall into a higher rating, then they may have to remain under the Fox brand after all?

Independence Day

This was a huge movie back in the day, but the recent sequel Independence Day: Resurgence pretty much killed the franchise and did not do as well as Fox had hoped. Is there any way for Disney to salvage this franchise and reignite its flame? To be fair it seems unlikely and I would guess that we may never see another Independence Day movie again. But who knows, if someone comes up with a great pitch for Disney, then they could decide to bring it back from the cold? If they did it’s likely this would be under the Fox brand as it’s not really PG-13 material.

Die Hard

A massive movie franchise, but one that has dropped off a cliff I recent years in terms of both quality and its attraction to audiences. Most likely the two are related as the most recent Die Hard film was tragically bad. Die Hard also has the issue of star Bruce Willis getting a little too old to be running about in a vest with no shoes and smoking cigarettes while he disposes of terrorists.

We can again definitely say that if Die Hard was ever rebooted then it would remain under the Fox brand as there is no way to do Die Hard in a PG-13 setting, and we wouldn’t want that anyway.

Planet of the Apes

There are currently no plans (that we are aware of) to do any more films in the Planet of the Apes franchise, but who knows where they could decide to take this story? The three films in the most recent trilogy certainly leave room for more sequels, perhaps even set in the far future like the original movies. Either way, if Planet of the Apes ever rears its ape-like head again, it will be under the control of Disney. Planet of the Apes has I think the ability to be a PG-13 experience, but that would seem unlikely. Instead, the franchise benefits from being a more adult sci-fi tale and the last three movies were very profitable for Fox.

I’d guess strongly that if Planet of the Apes ever does come back, it will appear under the Fox brand and not the Disney brand.

Kingsman

There have been two Kingsman movies already and there are plans for more. It would make sense for Disney to allow this franchise to continue as it has so far been very profitable for Fox. Of course, Kingsman is in no way a PG-13 movie, so again we would expect to see these movies continue to be released under the Fox brand. There is no reason at all to assume that Disney won’t allow the people who currently run Kingsman to keep on going the way they are now. Its easy money for Disney this one.

Family-Friendly Franchises

Disney will also get hold of a good number of family-friendly franchises they can use, though whether they will make any movies from these remains to be seen. We have the likes of Home Alone, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Doctor Dolittle, Ice Age, Night at the Museum, and the Percy Jackson stories. Some of these could easily be rebooted by Disney for a new generation (think Home Alone) and it would be interesting to see what Pixar could do with the Ice Age property. Percy Jackson hardly set the world alight with the first two movies and there seems to be no hint of a third, and Night at the Museum seems like a dead franchise for now, but who knows if they decided to reboot it somehow with a new character taking over from Ben Stiller?

I have not really even touched on the TV side of things, but suffice to say that could be a whole article on its own and perhaps the most famous show they have acquired is The Simpsons. At one point in time I would have called The Simpsons the greatest TV show of all time, but in recent years the writing quality has suffered greatly and it just doesn’t compare now to the earlier seasons of the show. It seems unlikely Disney would completely change the direction of a still popular show to get back to those heady days of yore, but again who can say?

RELATED: Disney Acquisition Of Fox Going Into Effect Late Tonight

There are many movie IP’s along with countless TV shows that I have not had time to mention here. But this should serve to educate fans/readers on what kind of movies are now owned by Disney following this momentous deal. What happens from here remains to be seen, but Disney has certainly got a whole box of new toys to play with, we just need to see where their imagination takes them?

What Fox IP’s would you love to see Disney continue, reboot, or kill forever? Sound off in the usual place below.

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