123-535: (The) Walt Disney Studios may refer to: Walt Disney Studios (division) , the Walt Disney Company's primary entertainment unit consisting of its film studio divisions, music labels, theatrical production and distribution companies. Walt Disney Studios (Burbank) , a film studio and business complex in Burbank, California, United States built in 1939 and as
246-633: A 10 percent distribution fee. The deal also included a $ 175 million co-financing loan by Disney to DreamWorks for production and access to slots in Disney's pay television agreement, then with Starz . In late 2009, Miramax Films , a formerly independent Disney film unit, was transferred to the Walt Disney Studios, until its sale in 2010 to Filmyard Holdings . The Kingdom Comics unit's creatives and executives moved its deal to an independent Monsterfoot Productions. On September 18, 2009, Cook
369-456: A 25-picture distribution deal, with Disney taking a 5% stake in Cinergi stock. After nine films were delivered under the agreement, Cinergi sold its 12-film library (except for Die Hard with a Vengeance , co-financed with 20th Century Fox ) to Disney on November 22, 1997, for $ 20 million in exchange for Disney's Cinergi shares, production advances of $ 35.4 million and other loans. In 1998,
492-465: A VFX company that worked on Avatar and The Jungle Book , was purchased in April 2017 to operate as Fox VFX Lab. Technoprops' founder Glenn Derry would continue to run the company as vice president of visual effect reporting to Gerard Bevan and John Kilkenny, VFX president. On October 30, 2017, Vanessa Morrison was named president of a newly created 20th Century Fox division, Fox Family, reporting to
615-550: A bid from Comcast (owner of NBCUniversal ) for $ 65 billion, Disney counterbid with $ 71.3 billion. On July 19, 2018, Comcast dropped out of the bid for 21st Century Fox in favor of Sky plc and Sky UK . Eight days later, Disney and 21st Century Fox shareholders approved the merger between the two companies. Although the deal was completed on March 20, 2019, 20th Century Fox was not planning to relocate to Walt Disney Studios in Burbank , but retained its headquarters at
738-469: A buyer for the film and the studio. Instead, Ice Age was released by Fox in conjunction with 20th Century Fox Animation on March 15, 2002, to critical and commercial success, receiving a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003. Ice Age would spawn a franchise and bolster Blue Sky into producing feature films and becoming a household name in feature animation. From 2000 to 2010, 20th Century Fox
861-451: A comedy feature film titled Ice Age . Studio management pressured staff to sell their remaining shares and options to Fox on the promise of continued employment on feature-length films. The studio moved to White Plains, New York and started production on Ice Age . As the film wrapped, Fox, having little faith in the film, feared that it might bomb at the box office. Fox terminated half of the production staff and tried unsuccessfully to find
984-491: A deal with Murdoch to purchase John Kluge 's Metromedia television stations. Murdoch went ahead alone and bought the stations, and later bought out Davis' remaining stake in 20th Century-Fox for $ 325 million. From 1985, the hyphen was permanently deleted from the brand name, with 20th Century-Fox changing to 20th Century Fox . To gain FCC approval of 20th Century-Fox's purchase of Metromedia 's television holdings, once
1107-672: A deal with the inventor Henri Chrétien , leaving the other film studios empty-handed, and in 1953 introduced CinemaScope in the studio's groundbreaking feature film The Robe . Zanuck announced in February 1953 that henceforth all 20th Century-Fox pictures would be made in CinemaScope. To convince theater owners to install this new process, 20th Century-Fox agreed to help pay conversion costs (about $ 25,000 per screen); and to ensure enough product, 20th Century-Fox leased access to CinemaScope to any rival studio choosing to use it. Seeing
1230-470: A default notice in regards to its licensing agreement for the under-construction 20th Century Fox World theme park in Malaysia by Genting Malaysia Bhd. In November 2018 Genting Malaysia filed suit in response and included soon to be parent The Walt Disney Company . On December 14, 2017, Disney announced plans to purchase most of 21st Century Fox, including 20th Century Fox, for $ 52.4 billion. After
1353-413: A film every 12–18 months. The deal was to bolster Blue Sky's output and replace the loss of distributing DreamWorks Animation films, which are now owned and distributed by Universal Pictures . The first film to be released under the production company was Ron's Gone Wrong , which was released on October 22, 2021, by 20th Century Studios and was the only film to be released by the studio. Technoprops,
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#17327648961791476-565: A five-year distribution agreement and an advance to Spyglass. After Caravan's remaining three films were released, it went inactive. By May 2000, Disney had taken an equity stake in Spyglass. Peter Schneider was promoted to studio president in January 1999, while Thomas Schumacher was promoted to president of Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Theatrical Productions while both became co-presidents of Disney Theatrical Group . As
1599-481: A full-service company", and hired former Circle Films executive Chris Zarpass to the newly created position as vice president of production and acquisitions, and acquisitions had taken on new importance for the company, citing two purchases, which are Benji the Hunted , and Ernest Goes to Camp . That year, In June 1987, the Walt Disney Studios decided to restructure their divisions at parent company, which included
1722-441: A huge international cast, into release as another source of quick cash. This offended Zanuck, still 20th Century-Fox's largest shareholder, for whom The Longest Day was a labor of love that he had dearly wanted to produce for many years. After it became clear that Something's Got to Give would not be able to progress without Monroe in the lead (Martin had refused to work with anyone else), Skouras finally decided that re-signing her
1845-483: A joint venture, Magic Films, to finance a slate of 32 films, which would not include sequels. Kingdom would provide financing with $ 135 million equity and a $ 370 million revolving credit line. With the exception of High School Musical 3 as a part of a Disney Channel franchise, Kingdom sued Disney in December 2008. In December 2005, Alan Bergman was promoted to president of the Walt Disney Studios. In January 2006,
1968-652: A new TV group. Richard Frank became head of the newly formed Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications (WDTT). Roth moved in from Caravan Pictures to helm the remaining Walt Disney Studios as chairman. Hoberman stepped down as president in January 1995 to take a five-year, multi-film deal for his production company, Mandeville Films . Roth was appointed as chairman of Walt Disney Studios in 1996. In April 1996, due to ongoing post-Disney- CC/ABC merger realignment and retirement of its president, WDTT group's division were reassigned to other groups with most transferred to
2091-437: A reorganization of its theatrical and animation units to improve resource usage and continued focus on new characters and franchise development. Walt Disney Feature Animation — sans Walt Disney Television Animation — and Buena Vista Theatrical Worldwide were organized under the Walt Disney Studios. In 2003, the studio set a worldwide box office record of $ 3 billion gross. In September 2005, Disney and Kingdom Films formed
2214-541: A seven-year lease from the Fox Corporation . On May 1, 2019, president Alan Bergman was promoted to co-chairman. Horn added the new title of the studio's chief creative officer. Disney announced a round of layoffs for the studio, mostly from 20th Century Fox, in the production and visual effects departments. They also announced on July 31, 2019, that the Fox Research Library will be folded into
2337-467: A shift in its strategy of releasing more Disney-branded (i.e. Walt Disney Pictures) films and fewer Touchstone titles. The move was expected to reduce the Group's work force by approximately 650 positions worldwide. This was a cost-cutting move with its yearly slate would consist of 12 to 15 films. After being transferred to various other division groups since they were acquired in 2004, The Muppets Studio
2460-631: A studio chairman role. Schneider left Walt Disney Studios in June 2001 to form his own theater production company partly funded by Disney. While no successor had been named, Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group (distribution); Thomas Schumacher, president of Walt Disney Animation; and Nina Jacobson, president of the Buena Vista Motion Picture Group (production) would take on
2583-678: A theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Walt Disney Studios . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walt_Disney_Studios&oldid=1220035535 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
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#17327648961792706-485: A year later. President Spyros Skouras brought in a series of production executives, but none had Zanuck's success. By the early 1960s, 20th Century-Fox was in trouble. A new version of Cleopatra (1963) began production in 1959 with Joan Collins in the lead. As a publicity gimmick, producer Walter Wanger offered $ 1 million to Elizabeth Taylor if she would star; she accepted and costs for Cleopatra began to escalate. Richard Burton 's on-set romance with Taylor
2829-761: Is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios , the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of The Walt Disney Company . It is headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles, which is leased from Fox Corporation . Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the films produced by this studio in theatrical markets. For over 80 years, 20th Century has been one of
2952-428: Is an amendment to the original agreement between 20th Century Fox and HBO that Disney inherited after its acquisition of Fox in 2019, and as such, is not expected to be renewed. Following the end of the 20th Century-HBO deal, Disney plans to retain the 20th Century films on their own streaming platforms going forward after 2022. The first film to this new strategy was Ron's Gone Wrong . Also in 2021, Disney had launched
3075-433: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Walt Disney Studios (division) The Walt Disney Studios is a major division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of The Walt Disney Company best known for housing its multifaceted film studio divisions. Founded on October 16, 1923, and based mainly at the namesake studio lot in Burbank, California , it
3198-473: Is presently one of five live-action film studios within the Walt Disney Studios, alongside Walt Disney Pictures , Marvel Studios , Lucasfilm , and its sister speciality unit, Searchlight Pictures . 20th Century also releases animated films produced by its animation division 20th Century Animation . The most commercially successful film series from 20th Century Studios include the first six Star Wars films, X-Men , Ice Age , Avatar , and Planet of
3321-592: Is the namesake studio that encompasses the release of its own live-action productions, in addition to films produced by the company's animation studios , mainly Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios . Marvel Studios —acquired through Disney's purchase of Marvel Entertainment in 2009—produces superhero films based on Marvel Comics characters, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Lucasfilm —acquired by Disney in 2012—develops and produces films, including those in
3444-614: Is the seventh-oldest global film studio and the fifth-oldest in the United States, a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and one of the "Big Five" major film studios . The Walt Disney Studios has prominent film production companies including Walt Disney Pictures , Walt Disney Animation Studios , Pixar , Marvel Studios , Lucasfilm , 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures . Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets
3567-615: The Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures —acquired by Disney in 2019 and together former members of the "Big Six" studios —produce a varied slate of films, with the latter focusing on specialty and prestige films . 20th Century also releases films produced by the animated film unit of 20th Century Animation . Disneynature is an independent film label devoted to producing nature documentary films. 20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. , formerly 20th Century Fox ,
3690-535: The Bollywood market, then expand to several Asian markets. In the same year, 20th Century Fox started Fox International Productions , but the division was closed in 2017. Chernin Entertainment was founded by Peter Chernin after he stepped down as president of 20th Century Fox's then-parent company News Corporation. in 2009. Chernin Entertainment's five-year first-look deal for the film and television
3813-523: The El Capitan Theatre and the Crest by 1989. The Crest was finished first while El Capitan opened with the premiere of The Rocketeer film on June 19, 1991. In September 1990, the Walt Disney Company arranged for financing up to $ 200 million by a unit of Nomura Securities for Interscope films made for Disney. On October 23, 1990, Disney formed Touchwood Pacific Partners I to supplant
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3936-545: The Golden Oak Ranch for feature films and television series productions complimenting its main Burbank studio . By the 1980s, the Walt Disney Company's collection of film units emerged as one of Hollywood's major film studios , mostly due to newly designed efforts in branding strategies, a resurgence of Walt Disney Productions' animated releases and unprecedented box office successes, particularly from Touchstone Pictures . The Walt Disney Productions film division
4059-878: The Silver Screen Partnership series as their movie studios' primary funding source. In 1992, Walt Disney Studios agreed to fund a production company, Caravan Pictures , for exiting 20th Century Fox chairman Joe Roth . In 1993, Miramax Films was purchased for $ 60 million by Disney. On March 30, 1992, Disney Studios agreed to sell KCAL-TV to Pineland, Inc. for a 45% ownership stake in Pineland, so as to have interest in TV stations in both large markets, Los Angeles and New York City, allowing for increased original programming. Instead Pineland agreed to an unsolicited bid in May from Chris-Craft Industries thus ending
4182-499: The first film and direct its sequel in the prequel trilogy, starting in 2011. In late 2006, Fox Atomic was started up under Fox Searchlight head Peter Rice and COO John Hegeman as a sibling production division under Fox Filmed Entertainment. In early 2008, Atomic's marketing unit was transferred to Fox Searchlight and 20th Century Fox, when Hegeman moved to New Regency Productions. Debbie Liebling became president. After two middling successes and falling short with other films,
4305-611: The highly acclaimed Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical , which became a significant success at the box office and won five Academy Awards , including Best Director ( Robert Wise ) and Best Picture of the Year . 20th Century-Fox also had two big science-fiction hits in the decade: Fantastic Voyage (1966), and the original Planet of the Apes (1968), starring Charlton Heston , Kim Hunter , and Roddy McDowall . Fantastic Voyage
4428-431: The major American film studios . It was formed in 1935 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation by the merger of Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures , and one of the original " Big Five " among eight majors of Hollywood's Golden Age . In 1985, the studio removed the hyphen in the name (becoming Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation) after being acquired by Rupert Murdoch 's News Corporation , which
4551-641: The "20th Century Fox" name was Underwater , which was released on January 10, 2020. After the box office failures of films like Dark Phoenix and Stuber , Disney halted development on several projects , though films such as Free Guy and the Avatar sequels managed to continue production. Fox's slate would be reduced to 10 films per year, half of them being made for the Hulu and then-upcoming Disney+ streaming services. Projects from 20th Century Fox franchises such as Star Wars , Home Alone , Cheaper by
4674-529: The "Fox" name from the studio's 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures branding. The two studios were renamed as 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, respectively. Similar to other Disney film units, films produced under the 20th Century Studios began to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the same year. Searchlight Pictures continues to operate their autonomous distribution unit in North America. In December 2020, it
4797-867: The "Games of the Century" slogan, but the division failed due to the video game crash of 1983 . By 1984, Rich had become a fugitive from justice, having fled to Switzerland after being charged by U.S. federal prosecutors with tax evasion, racketeering and illegal trading with Iran during the Iran hostage crisis . Rich's assets were frozen by U.S. authorities. In 1984 Marvin Davis bought out Marc Rich 's 50% interest in 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation for an undisclosed amount, reported to be $ 116 million. Davis sold this interest to Rupert Murdoch 's News Corporation for $ 250 million in March 1985. Davis later backed out of
4920-615: The 1935 merger as its founding in recent years, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915. The company's films retained the 20th Century Pictures searchlight logo on their opening credits as well as its opening fanfare, but with the name changed to 20th Century-Fox. After the merger was completed, Zanuck signed young actors to help carry 20th Century-Fox: Tyrone Power , Linda Darnell , Carmen Miranda , Don Ameche , Henry Fonda , Gene Tierney , Sonja Henie , and Betty Grable . 20th Century-Fox also hired Alice Faye and Shirley Temple , who appeared in several major films for
5043-475: The 1946 level, 20th Century-Fox gambled on an unproven process. Noting that the two film sensations of 1952 had been Cinerama , which required three projectors to fill a giant curved screen, and "Natural Vision" 3D , which got its effects of depth by requiring the use of polarized glasses, 20th Century-Fox mortgaged its studio to buy rights to a French anamorphic projection system which gave a slight illusion of depth without glasses. President Spyros Skouras struck
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5166-594: The 1950s, with Dean Martin and director George Cukor . The troubled Monroe caused delays daily, and it quickly descended into a costly debacle. As Cleopatra ' s budget passed $ 10 million, eventually costing around $ 40 million, 20th Century-Fox sold its back lot (now the site of Century City ) to Alcoa in 1961 to raise funds. After several weeks of script rewrites on the Monroe picture and very little progress, mostly due to director George Cukor's filming methods, in addition to Monroe's chronic sinusitis , Monroe
5289-472: The Apes . Additionally, the studio's library includes many individual films such as The Sound of Music and Titanic , both of which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and became the highest-grossing films of all time during their initial releases. Twentieth Century Pictures ' Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck left United Artists over a stock dispute, and began merger talks with
5412-703: The Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group was formed by Roth to unite the Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood film production units with leadership under David Vogel. This was in order to centralize the various production units and to make live-action film production within Disney more cost-efficient. Roth also determined that the studio's year production slate should be cut. In August 1998, Roger Birnbaum, Caravan's co-founder, left at Roth's prompting to co-found Spyglass Entertainment with former Morgan Creek Productions vice chairman and COO Gary Barber , in which Disney gave Caravan's development slate,
5535-418: The CinemaScope process including Carousel and The King and I (both 1956). CinemaScope brought a brief upturn in attendance, but by 1956 the numbers again began to slide. That year Darryl Zanuck announced his resignation as head of production. Zanuck moved to Paris, setting up as an independent producer, seldom being in the United States for many years. Zanuck's successor, producer Buddy Adler , died
5658-508: The Dozen , Night at the Museum , Diary of a Wimpy Kid , and Ice Age were later announced for Disney+. These projects would later be fully revealed during Disney's Investor Day in December 2020 as feature films for the aforementioned streaming service. The first of these projects was Home Sweet Home Alone , which was released on November 12, 2021. On January 17, 2020, Disney renamed
5781-522: The Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles, which is currently leased to Disney by 21st Century Fox's successor, Fox Corporation , for seven years. Various units were moved out from under 20th Century Fox at acquisition in months after the merger along with several rounds of layoffs. The Fox Research Library was folded into the Walt Disney Archives and Walt Disney Imagineering Archives in January 2020. The last film to use
5904-488: The Japanese branch of 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Fox Japan, was absorbed into Disney Japan; 20th Century Studios' previous involvement with Toei Company as the Japanese co-distributor and Asian distributor for Dragon Ball films ended and were later taken over by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Releasing (via Sony Pictures Releasing International ). On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios
6027-664: The Phoenix studio. However, Fox Animation Studios in Los Angeles would be renamed to 20th Century Fox Animation between 1998 and 1999. The Phoenix studio would face financial problems, eventually with Fox laying off 300 of the nearly 380 people who worked at the Phoenix studio to "make films more efficiently". After the box-office failure of Titan A.E. , Fox Animation Studios would shut down on June 26, 2000. Their last film set to be made would have been an adaptation of Wayne Barlowe 's illustrated novel Barlowe's Inferno , and
6150-540: The Seven Dwarfs , premiered in December 1937 and became the highest-grossing film of that time by 1939. In the 1940s, Disney began experimenting with full-length live-action films, with the introduction of hybrid live action-animated films such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and Song of the South (1946). That same decade, the studio began producing nature documentaries with the release of Seal Island (1948),
6273-710: The Walt Disney Archives and the Imagineering Research Library by January 2020. The studio announced a 10-year lease of most of the Pinewood Studios near London from the Pinewood Group in September 2019 to start in 2020. In August 2019, Disney became the first studio to have five films to gross over $ 1 billion at the worldwide box office in a single year. Walt Disney Studios became the first major studio to reach $ 10 billion at
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#17327648961796396-441: The Walt Disney Company announced to acquire computer animation leader Pixar . The deal was finalized in May 2006. Pixar executive Ed Catmull would serve as president of both Pixar and Disney feature animation studios. Pixar executive vice president John Lasseter became chief creative officer for Pixar and the feature animated studios as well as helping to develop new Disney theme park attractions. In July 2006, Disney announced
6519-564: The Walt Disney Studios or CC/ABC. Units returning to the studio were Walt Disney Television, Disney Television Animation , Touchstone Television and Buena Vista Home Entertainment . Buena Vista International - Latin America and two other companies became owners of Patagonik Film Group , an Argentina-based production company, in 1997. In late 1997, Disney bid on CDR 's Epic movie library but lost to PolyGram Filmed Entertainment . Disney's Buena Vista Distribution and Cinergi Pictures had
6642-673: The Walt Disney Studios. Fox's filmed entertainment CEO Stacey Snider exited following the acquisition. Fox executives Emma Watts, Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula joined the Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019. On March 21, 2019, Disney announced that the Fox 2000 label would be shut down by the end of the year after releasing its films in production. 20th Century Fox Animation was also repositioned to directly report to chairman Horn. 20th Century Fox and its related studios will keep their headquarters on their studio lot in Century City, thanks to
6765-495: The box-office for the first two CinemaScope features, The Robe and How to Marry a Millionaire (also 1953), Warner Bros., MGM, RKO, Universal-International , Columbia , UA, Allied Artists , and Disney quickly adopted the process. In 1956, 20th Century-Fox engaged Robert Lippert to establish a subsidiary company, Regal Pictures , later Associated Producers Incorporated to film B pictures in CinemaScope (but "branded" RegalScope). 20th Century-Fox produced new musicals using
6888-577: The chairman & CEO and Vice Chairman of 20th Century Fox. The family division would develop films that appeal to younger moviegoers and their parents both animated films and films with live-action elements. Also, the division would oversee the studio's family animated television business, which produces holiday television specials based on existing film properties, and oversee feature film adaptation of its TV shows. To replace Morrison at Fox Animation, Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird were named co-presidents of 20th Century Fox Animation. 20th Century Fox issued
7011-473: The character animation of MTV Films' first film Joe's Apartment . Following the studio's expansion, Blue Sky produced character animation for the films Alien Resurrection , A Simple Wish , Mouse Hunt , Star Trek: Insurrection and Fight Club . VIFX was later sold to another VFX studio Rhythm and Hues Studios in March 1999. According to Blue Sky founder Chris Wedge , Fox considered selling Blue Sky as well by 2000 due to financial difficulties in
7134-550: The company "had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at the Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns", and had reversed its ban. In December 2017, Disney announced plans to purchase 21st Century Fox (21CF) for $ 52.4 billion. In preparation for integration of 21st Century Fox assets in March 2018, Disney created a new segment named Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International , merging two segments and transferring various units to
7257-518: The corporate headquarters for The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Studio (1926–1929), the second name of The Walt Disney Company Walt Disney Animation Studios , the main animation division of The Walt Disney Company Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures , the primary theatrical film distributor of The Walt Disney Company who releases films released under the Walt Disney Pictures label Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment ,
7380-553: The depiction of smoking and tobacco products from Walt Disney Pictures-branded films, as well as limiting such depictions in Touchstone and Miramax films. In April 2008, the Studio announced the formation of Disneynature , a nature film production label. The Studio launched its Kingdom Comics division in May, led by writer-actor Ahmet Zappa , television executive Harris Katleman and writer-editor Christian Beranek . Kingdom
7503-528: The distribution rights previously held by Paramount for Marvel Studios' Iron Man , Iron Man 2 , Thor , and Captain America: The First Avenger . In December of that same year, Disney purchased the distribution and marketing rights to future Indiana Jones films from Paramount. Paramount will continue distributing the first four films and receive "financial participation" from any additional films . In March 2015, Iger expanded
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#17327648961797626-468: The distribution rights to Marvel's The Avengers and Iron Man 3 in October 2010. In May 2011, Disney India and UTV Motion Pictures agreed to co-produce Disney-branded family films, with both companies handling creative function and UTV producing, marketing and distributing the films. In August 2011, Disney fired Marvel Studios ' marketing department in a restructuring. Disney would take over
7749-469: The films produced by 20th Century and Searchlight in home media under the 20th Century Home Entertainment label. The first film released by Disney under the studio's new name was The Call of the Wild , which was released on February 21, 2020. That same year, Ford vs. Ferrari (2019), among its four Academy Award nominations, earned the studio its first Best Picture nomination post-Disney acquisition. In
7872-479: The financial and administrative divisions of Walt Disney Pictures and Television, appointing four directors to the newly created vice president positions, included were John Covas, Linda Stefansen, Anne Waldeck and Lloyd Wendkos, although Covas became the new vice president of administration for Buena Vista Pictures Distribution , while Linda Stefansen was promoted from director of finance at Walt Disney Pictures ' marketing division to vice president of administration at
7995-669: The first of the True-Life Adventures series and a subsequent Academy Award winner for Best Live-Action Short Film . Walt Disney Productions had its first fully live-action film in 1950 with the release of Treasure Island , considered by Disney to be the official conception for what would eventually evolve into the modern-day Walt Disney Pictures . By 1953, the company ended their agreements with such third-party distributors as RKO Radio Pictures and United Artists and formed their own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution . Disney Productions purchased in 1959
8118-535: The first studio president, Schneider had supervisory control of all films released by the Disney labels. In July, Walt Disney Television , including Buena Vista Television Productions, were transferred from the Walt Disney Studios to ABC Television Network to merge with ABC's prime-time division, forming the ABC Entertainment Television Group. Roth left to form his own production company in January 2000, with Schneider moving to
8241-470: The formation of Hollywood Pictures division, which would only share marketing and distribution with Touchstone, to fill the void. Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television were grouped together under Garth Ancier as president of network television for the Walt Disney Studios on April 18, 1989. Late in the 1980s, Disney purchased a controlling stake in one of Pacific Theatres ' chains leading Disney's Buena Vista Theaters and Pacific to renovate
8364-486: The global box office in December 2019, breaking their previous record in 2016. The studio ended 2019 eventually earning $ 13.2 billion in worldwide box office. Disney achieved this on the strength of Avengers: Endgame , The Lion King , Captain Marvel , Toy Story 4 , Aladdin , Frozen II , and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker all earning over $ 1 billion. On January 17, 2020, Disney announced it would drop
8487-400: The label. Berger was pushed out as a new CEO was appointed for Walt Disney Productions later in 1984, as Michael Eisner brought his own film chief, Jeffrey Katzenberg and film studio president, Richard H. Frank. Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures were formed within that unit on February 15, 1984, and February 1, 1989, respectively. In October 1984, Daily Variety had identified Disney as
8610-426: The largest amount raised for a film financing limited partnership by E.F. Hutton. Also in 1985, TV production company Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions begin signing a deal with Disney to produce feature films and TV shows. In 1987, the Walt Disney Studios, which until now, had sporadically acquired independently produced films, has plans to aggressively pick up properties for distribution in an effort to become "more of
8733-511: The majority of the content produced by these studios for both theatrical exhibition and the company's streaming services . In 2019, Disney posted an industry record of $ 13.2 billion at the global box office . The studio owns eight of the top ten highest-grossing films of all time worldwide, and several of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time. Walt Disney Productions began production of their first feature-length animated film in 1934. Taking three years to complete, Snow White and
8856-479: The management of financially struggling Fox Film , under President Sidney Kent. Spyros Skouras , then manager of the Fox West Coast Theaters , helped make it happen (and later became president of the new company). The company had been struggling since founder William Fox lost control of the company in 1930. Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures merged in 1935. Initially, it
8979-422: The marketing and distribution of future Marvel titles, beginning with the 2012 release of The Avengers . On April 20, 2012, Ross was fired as studio chairman. Former Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn was named chairman on May 31, 2012. On October 30, 2012, Lucasfilm agreed to be purchased by the Walt Disney Company and a new Star Wars trilogy was announced. The deal was finalized on December 21. Later on
9102-519: The new $ 100 million animation studio. Fox 2000 Pictures was formed to specialize in mid-budget-ranging films targeted towards underserved groups of audiences, with Laura Ziskin brought on as president. In August 1997, Fox's Los Angeles-based visual effects company, VIFX, acquired majority interest in Blue Sky Studios to form a new visual effects and animation company, temporarily renamed "Blue Sky/VIFX". Blue Sky had previously did
9225-605: The new segment, including the Janice Marinelli-led Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment . On June 28, 2018, DisneyToon Studios was shut down. On June 8, 2018, Disney announced Lasseter would be leaving the company by the end of the year, but would take on a consulting role until then. On June 19, 2018, Pete Docter and Jennifer Lee were announced as Lasseter's replacements as chief creative officers of Pixar and Disney Animation, respectively. In December 2018,
9348-511: The new studio. It was soon given its name with Rothman as its founding president. Fox Family Films was tasked with producing films geared towards families, under John Matoian . Fox Animation Studios was established on August 9, 1994, designed to compete with Walt Disney Feature Animation , whom had found success in the Disney Renaissance . Don Bluth and Gary Goldman of the failing Sullivan Bluth Studios were appointed to head
9471-447: The ongoing coronavirus pandemic 's continued economic impact on the company's businesses; it was no longer sustainable for Disney to run a third feature animation studio. The studio's film library and intellectual properties would still be retained by Disney. Disney Music Group was reorganized back under Walt Disney Studios on February 8, 2023. On April 26, 2023, 20th Digital Studio was dissolved. Animation Walt Disney Pictures
9594-481: The planned business merger with Disney's KCAL. David Hoberman , president of Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone, was promoted by Katzenberg to president of motion pictures at Walt Disney Studios in April 1994 , while Ricardo Mestres was forced out as president of Hollywood Pictures in exchange for a production deal. On August 24, 1994, with Katzenberg's resignation, Walt Disney Studios was reorganized by spinning off
9717-590: The primary home video media distributor of The Walt Disney Company Walt Disney Television Studios, the former incarnation of Disney Television Studios , the television studios arm of The Walt Disney Company See also [ edit ] Disney Interactive Studios , former video game studio Walt Disney Studios Park , a theme park in Marne-la-Vallée, France opened in 2002. Part of the Disneyland Paris resort Disney's Hollywood Studios ,
9840-514: The profits to acquire resort properties, soft-drink bottlers, Australian theaters and other properties in an attempt to diversify enough to offset the boom-or-bust cycle of picture-making. Foreshadowing a pattern of film production still yet to come, in late 1973 20th Century-Fox joined forces with Warner Bros. to co-produce The Towering Inferno (1974), an all-star action blockbuster from producer Irwin Allen . Both studios found themselves owning
9963-411: The responsibilities of Schneider while continuing in their current positions. In February 2002, Cook was named as studio chairman. In January 2002, Buena Vista International - Latin America formed a joint venture production company, Miravista, with Admira, Telefónica 's content production and distribution division, for primarily Brazilian and Mexican film productions. In January 2003, Disney initiated
10086-479: The rights to books about burning skyscrapers. Allen insisted on a meeting with the heads of both studios and announced that as 20th Century-Fox was already in the lead with their property it would be career suicide to have competing movies. Thus the first joint-venture studio deal was struck. In hindsight, while it may be commonplace now, back in the 1970s, it was a risky, but revolutionary, idea that paid off handsomely at both domestic and international box offices around
10209-451: The same company, Anne Waldeck was moved into the vice president administrative position for Buena Vista Home Video , and Lloyd Wendkos was named vice president of administration at Buena Vista International . In April 1988, Touchstone became a unit of Walt Disney Pictures with newly appointed head Ricardo Mestres. With several production companies getting out of film production or closing shop by December 1988, Walt Disney Studios announced
10332-479: The same day, Disney agreed to have Netflix as its exclusive U.S. television subscription service for first-run Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Disneynature feature films starting in 2016, replacing its agreement with Starz that ends in 2015. In April 2013, the Walt Disney Studios laid off 150 workers, including staff from its marketing and home entertainment units. In July 2013, Disney acquired all of
10455-871: The same year, held-over production president Emma Watts left the company. On March 12, 2020, Steve Asbell was named president, production of 20th Century Studios, while Morrison was named president, streaming, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production to oversee live-action development and production of Walt Disney Pictures and 20th Century Studios for Disney+ . Philip Steuer will now lead physical and post-production and VFX, as president of production at Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production. Randi Hiller will now lead casting as executive VP casting, overseeing both Walt Disney Pictures and 20th Century Studios. Steuer has served as executive VP of physical production for Walt Disney Studios since 2015, and Hiller has led casting for Walt Disney Studios since 2011. Both will dual-report to Asbell and Sean Bailey . On September 1, 2020,
10578-431: The seventh major film studio due to the hiring of Eisner as Disney chairman and his plans for the company. In late 1984, Fred Silverman and his InterMedia production company has struck a deal with the Walt Disney Studios. Organized in 1985, Silver Screen Partners II, L.P. financed films for Disney with $ 193 million in funding. In January 1987, Silver Screen III began financing films for Disney with $ 300 million raised,
10701-514: The stations of the long-dissolved DuMont network, Murdoch had to become a U.S. citizen. He did so in 1985, and in 1986 the new Fox Broadcasting Company took to the air. Over the next 20-odd years the network and owned-stations group expanded to become extremely profitable for News Corporation. Then in 1993, 20th Century Fox bought the superhero rights to the X-Men , while the Fantastic Four
10824-715: The studio briefly banned reporters of the Los Angeles Times from attending pre-release screenings for its films, after it had published reports on Disney's political influence in the Anaheim area that the company deemed to be "biased and inaccurate". After a boycott effort emerged among several notable critics and publications (including Washington Post blogger Alyssa Rosenberg, The New York Times , and Boston Globe critic Ty Burr ), and several major film critic societies threatened to disqualify Disney films from their year-end awards in retaliation, Disney stated that
10947-453: The studio in the 1930s. Higher attendance during World War II helped 20th Century-Fox overtake RKO and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to become the third most profitable film studio. In 1941, Zanuck was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Signal Corps and assigned to supervise the production of U.S. Army training films. His partner, William Goetz , filled in at 20th Century-Fox. In 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of
11070-520: The studio surpassed $ 7 billion in global box office for the calendar year. It was the second time in history that any studio had surpassed the $ 7 billion mark, after Disney's own industry-record global gross of $ 7.6 billion in 2016. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox, Disney announced that the film divisions of Fox Entertainment Group (including 20th Century Fox , Fox Searchlight Pictures , Fox 2000 Pictures , 20th Century Fox Animation , Blue Sky Studios , and Fox Family) would be folded into
11193-473: The studio to "20th Century Studios", which served to help avoid brand confusion with Fox Corporation. Similar to other Disney film units, distribution of 20th Century Studios films is now handled in North America by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and internationally by their sub-division Buena Vista International , while Searchlight Pictures operates their own autonomous distribution and marketing unit. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment distributes
11316-422: The studio's smoking and tobacco prohibition to include all films released by the studio—including PG-13 rated films and below—unless such depictions are historically pertinent. The studio and Shanghai Media Group Pictures signed a multi-year movie development agreement, before the March 6, 2014, announcement, in which Chinese themes would be incorporated into Disney-branded movies. In August 2015, Marvel Studios
11439-410: The studio, laid off the entire staff to save money, axed the long-running Movietone Newsreel (the archives of which are now owned by Fox News ), and made a series of cheap, popular pictures that restored 20th Century-Fox as a major studio. The saving grace for the studio's fortunes came from the tremendous success of The Sound of Music (1965), an expensive and handsomely produced film adaptation of
11562-433: The studio. During the next few years, with pictures like Wilson (1944), The Razor's Edge (1946), Boomerang , Gentleman's Agreement (both 1947), The Snake Pit (1948), and Pinky (1949), Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. 20th Century-Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books such as Ben Ames Williams ' Leave Her to Heaven (1945), starring Gene Tierney , which
11685-481: The top 10 films of the year with a record four of them, The Jungle Book , Finding Dory , Captain America: Civil War , and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , with opening weekend takes of over $ 100 million. Four films in 2016 grossed over $ 1 billion and another $ 966 million globally. Two studio units' (Pixar and Marvel Studios) combined lifetime library grosses passed $ 10 billion. In November 2017,
11808-433: The trail of film stardom" on August 6, 1935, when they each received a six-month contract with 20th Century-Fox after spending 18 months in the school. The contracts included a studio option for renewal for as long as seven years. For many years, 20th Century Fox identified themselves as having been founded in 1915, the year Fox Film was founded. For instance, it marked 1945 as its 30th anniversary. However, it has considered
11931-410: The unit was shut down in April 2009. The remaining films under its Atomic label in production and post-productions were transferred to 20th Century Fox and Fox Spotlight with Liebling overseeing them. In 2008, 20th Century Fox announced an Asian subsidiary, Fox STAR Studios , a joint venture with STAR TV , also owned by News Corporation. It was reported that Fox STAR would start by producing films for
12054-405: The visual effects industry in general. In February 1998, following the success of Fox Animation Studios' first film Anastasia , Fox Family Films changed its name to Fox Animation Studios and dropped its live action production. which would be picked up by other production units. The actual Fox Animation Studios would become a division of the formerly-named Fox Family Films, being referred to as
12177-473: The world. 20th Century-Fox's success reached new heights by backing the most profitable film made up to that time, Star Wars (1977). Substantial financial gains were realized as a result of the film's unprecedented success: from a low of $ 6 in June 1976, stock prices more than quadrupled to almost $ 27 after Star Wars release; 1976 revenues of $ 195 million rose to $ 301 million in 1977. With financial stability came new owners, when 20th Century-Fox
12300-442: Was announced that effective January 1, 2021, Bergman would become chairman, overseeing creative, production, marketing, and operations for it, while Horn would remain as the studios' Chief Creative Officer, focusing solely on Disney's creative pipeline, and working in conjunction with Bergman on the studio's creative plans. On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios would be closed effective April 2021, due in part to
12423-523: Was bought in 1998. Then Bryan Singer directed the first film and the second film , while Brett Ratner was hired to direct the third film of the original trilogy. In 1994, 20th Century Fox would establish four new divisions: Fox Searchlight Pictures , Fox Family Films , Fox Animation Studios , and Fox 2000 Pictures . Fox Searchlight would specialize in the specialty and indie film market, with Thomas Rothman , then president of production at The Samuel Goldwyn Company , being brought on to head up
12546-773: Was cancelled as a result of its closure. The studio's film library and intellectual properties are retained by Disney. Although Disney did not give an exact date as to when the studio would be closing down initially, former animator Rick Fournier confirmed on April 10 it was their last day of operation, three days after founder Chris Wedge released a farewell letter on social media. Nimona would be picked up by Annapurna Pictures in early 2022 for release on Netflix in 2023. On November 22, 2021, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution and WarnerMedia reached an agreement to allow select 20th Century Studios films be shared between Disney+ , Hulu , and HBO Max through late 2022. The new agreement negotiated by Gerard Devan and John Gelke
12669-426: Was designed to create new properties for possible film development and re-imagine and redevelop existing movies from the Disney library, with Disney Publishing Worldwide getting a first look for publishing. On February 9, 2009, Walt Disney Studios entered a 7-year, 30-picture distribution deal with DreamWorks Studios , by which DreamWorks' films would be released through the Touchstone banner, with Disney collecting
12792-684: Was fired from Something's Got to Give and two months later she was found dead. According to 20th Century-Fox files, she was rehired within weeks for a two-picture deal totaling $ 1 million, $ 500,000 to finish Something's Got to Give (plus a bonus at completion), and another $ 500,000 for What a Way to Go . Elizabeth Taylor's disruptive reign on the Cleopatra set continued unchallenged from 1960 into 1962, though three 20th Century-Fox executives went to Rome in June 1962 to fire her. They learned that director Joseph L. Mankiewicz had filmed out of sequence and had only done interiors, so 20th Century-Fox
12915-456: Was forced out as chairman, after allegedly having been asked to do so by Iger, for resisting change that Iger felt was needed and the previous year's poor results. He was then replaced by Disney Channels Worldwide president Rich Ross on October 5, 2009. The Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in December 2009 for $ 4.2 billion. Disney closed a deal with Paramount Pictures to transfer worldwide marketing and
13038-471: Was formed in June 2013. In August, the same year, 20th Century Fox started a theatrical joint venture with a trio of producers, both film and theater, Kevin McCollum , John Davis and Tom McGrath. On September 20, 2017, Locksmith Animation formed a multi-year production deal with 20th Century Fox, who would distribute Locksmith's films under 20th Century Fox Animation , with Locksmith aiming to release
13161-460: Was incorporated into the Walt Disney Studios' Special Events Group in 2006. In April 2007, Disney retired the Buena Vista brand. Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group and Buena Vista Pictures Distribution were renamed as Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures , respectively. Hollywood Pictures was also retired as well. In July 2007, Disney CEO Bob Iger banned
13284-480: Was incorporated on April 1, 1983 as Walt Disney Pictures . In April 1983, Richard Berger was hired by Disney CEO Ron W. Miller as film president. Berger diversified the studio's output by green-lighting "more adult, more mature" films targeted toward adult audiences. As a result, Touchstone Films was started by Miller in February 1984 as a label for their films (rated PG and higher) with an expected half of Disney's 6 to 8 films yearly slate would be released under
13407-508: Was integrated into Walt Disney Studios with president Kevin Feige reporting to Disney studio chief Alan Horn instead of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter . Perlmutter continued to oversee Marvel Television and Marvel Animation until 2019, in which they were folded back into Marvel Studios. In January 2016, Disney received ownership of all fourteen DreamWorks films it distributed, in compensation for outstanding loans as DreamWorks
13530-476: Was lovingly and carefully produced under Zanuck's supervision. It was finally released at a length of three hours and was well received. At the next board meeting, Zanuck spoke for eight hours, convincing directors that Skouras was mismanaging the company and that he was the only possible successor. Zanuck was installed as chairman, and then named his son Richard Zanuck as president. This new management group seized Cleopatra and rushed it to completion, shut down
13653-432: Was renamed 21st Century Fox in 2013 after it spun off its publishing assets . Disney purchased most of 21st Century Fox's assets , which included 20th Century Fox, on March 20, 2019. The studio adopted its current name on January 17, 2020, in order to avoid confusion with Fox Corporation, and subsequently started to use it for the copyright of 20th Century and Searchlight Pictures productions on December 4. 20th Century
13776-551: Was restructured into Amblin Partners . Later that same year, Disney distributed The Light Between Oceans —the fourteenth and final film in the DreamWorks distribution deal—and also the last film released under Touchstone. On December 19, 2016, Walt Disney Studios became the first major studio to reach $ 7 billion at the global box office. This surpasses Universal's record from 2015 of $ 6.89 billion. Disney did it with five of
13899-403: Was set to be done entirely with computer animation . Another film they would have made was The Little Beauty King , an adult animated film directed by Steve Oedekerk , which would have been a satire of the films from the Disney Renaissance . It would predate Shrek (2001). Chris Wedge, film producer Lori Forte, and Fox Animation executive Chris Meledandri presented Fox with a script for
14022-434: Was shut down in April 2021, and was succeeded by 20th Century Animation . A spokesperson for the company explained that in light of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic 's continued economic impact on all of its businesses, it was no longer sustainable for them to run a third feature animation studio. In addition, production on a film adaptation of the webcomic Nimona , originally scheduled to be released on January 14, 2022,
14145-512: Was signed with 20th Century Fox and 20th Century Fox TV in 2009. On June 28, 2012, Rupert Murdoch announced that News Corporation would be split into two publishing and media-oriented companies: a new News Corporation and 21st Century Fox , which operated the Fox Entertainment Group and 20th Century Fox. Murdoch considered the name of the new company a way to maintain the 20th Century Fox heritage. Fox Stage Productions
14268-543: Was sold for $ 720 million on June 8, 1981, to investors Marc Rich and Marvin Davis . 20th Century-Fox's assets included Pebble Beach Golf Links , the Aspen Skiing Company and a Century City property upon which Davis built and twice sold Fox Plaza . In 1982, the company decided to try on capitalizing the video game industry by forming the company's first video game division, Fox Video Games, in order to sell cartridges for consoles and computers, under
14391-531: Was speculated in The New York Times that the newly merged company would be named "Fox-Twentieth Century". The new company, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, began trading on May 31, 1935. Kent remained at the company, joining Schenck and Zanuck. Zanuck replaced Winfield Sheehan as the company's production chief. The company established a special training school. Lynn Bari , Patricia Farr and Anne Nagel were among 14 young women "launched on
14514-544: Was surrounding the media. However, Skouras' selfish preferences and inexperienced micromanagement on the film's production did nothing to speed up production on Cleopatra . Meanwhile, another remake—of the Cary Grant hit My Favorite Wife (1940)—was rushed into production in an attempt to turn over a quick profit to help keep 20th Century-Fox afloat. The romantic comedy entitled Something's Got to Give paired Marilyn Monroe , 20th Century-Fox's most bankable star of
14637-557: Was the highest-grossing 20th Century-Fox film of the 1940s. The studio also produced film versions of Broadway musicals, including the Rodgers and Hammerstein films, beginning with the musical version of State Fair (1945), the only work that the partnership wrote specially for films. After the war, audiences slowly drifted away. 20th Century-Fox held on to its theaters until a court-mandated "divorce"; they were spun off as Fox National Theaters in 1953. That year, with attendance at half
14760-666: Was the international distributor for MGM / UA releases. In the 1980s, 20th Century Fox – through a joint venture with CBS called CBS/Fox Video – had distributed certain UA films on video; thus UA has come full circle by switching to 20th Century Fox for video distribution. 20th Century Fox also makes money distributing films for small independent film companies. In 2006, 20th Century Fox terminated its production with Bad Hat Harry Productions for 5 years, because Bryan Singer left X-Men: The Last Stand to direct Superman Returns (2006) for Warner Bros. Pictures , then he returned to produce
14883-680: Was the last film made in CinemaScope ; the studio had held on to the format while Panavision lenses were being used elsewhere. Zanuck stayed on as chairman until 1971, but there were several expensive flops in his last years, resulting in 20th Century-Fox posting losses from 1969 to 1971. Following his removal and replacement by Dennis Stanfill as chairman, and after an uncertain period, new management brought 20th Century-Fox back to health. Under president Gordon T. Stulberg and production head Alan Ladd, Jr. , 20th Century-Fox films connected with modern audiences. Board chairman Dennis Stanfill used
15006-459: Was then forced to allow Taylor several more weeks of filming. In the meantime during that summer of 1962 Fox released nearly all of its contract stars to offset burgeoning costs, including Jayne Mansfield . With few pictures on the schedule, Skouras wanted to rush Zanuck's big-budget war epic The Longest Day (1962), an accurate account of the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, with
15129-421: Was unavoidable. But days before filming was due to resume, she was found dead at her Los Angeles home and the picture resumed filming as Move Over, Darling , with Doris Day and James Garner in the leads. Released in 1963, the film was a hit. The unfinished scenes from Something's Got to Give were shelved for nearly 40 years. Rather than being rushed into release as if it were a B-picture, The Longest Day
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