LOS ANGELES: Disney will rename 20th Century Fox to distance its legendary film studio from the assets of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch right-wing media channel, US media reported.
The entertainment conglomerate last year acquired most of the assets of 21st Century Fox group, including the film house, while former owner Murdoch and his shareholders kept several TV channels, including Fox News and their sports business.
Variety magazine reported that the entertainment giant decided to rename its subsidiary to remove all links with Fox. The 20th Century Fox film studio will become 20th Century Studios, and Fox Searchlight Pictures will become Searchlight Pictures.
Murdoch took control of 20th Century Fox in the mid 1980s and built a media empire under the Fox brand that is now heavily associated with its news network, which is not the preferred news source for US President Donald Trump. “I think the Fox name means Murdoch, and that is toxic,” an insider told Variety.
Disney’s decision is a symbolic step for one of Hollywood’s founding studios, which began production in 1914 and merged with 20th Century Pictures in 1935.
Its famous searchlight logo has shone before some of the biggest movies in Hollywood history, including Alien, Avatar, Die Hard, Home Alone and Planet of the Apes.Disney has yet to decide on the fate of television studios 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television.
ADVERTISEMENT
