The Fox 2000 label is shutting down in the wake of the Disney-Fox deal. Following a complicated legal approval process that spanned well over a year, the Mouse House finalized its purchase of most of 21st Century Fox's assets this week on Wednesday, March 20, for the hefty price of $71.3 billion. As such, the studio is now in the process of reorganizing its newly-acquired Fox "assets", which has long been expected to result in thousands of layoffs, as part of Disney's efforts to reduce its annual expenditures by $2 billion within the next few years.

Obviously, the deal was only finalized a couple days ago, but things have mostly played out as expected up to this point. Disney already has several film labels under its supervision (see: Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar Animation) in addition to its in-house productions, but is currently planning to keep both 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight intact, in the immediate aftermath of its purchase. Unfortunately, in a surprising move, it's come to light that the Mouse House will be closing down Elizabeth Gabler's Fox 2000 banner.

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Fox 2000 was once expected to be carried over as part of the new Disney-Fox deal, but THR's sources have since confirmed that this won't be happening. The label has traditionally specialized in mid-budget fare, ranging from the Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line and the 2006 hit The Devil Wears Prada to last year's dual YA novel adaptations Love, Simon and The Hate U Give.

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Reading between the lines, there seem to be a few potential explanations for Disney's decision here. While Fox 2000 has released several box office hits (The Fault in Our Stars, Hidden Figures) and cult films (Fight Club) over the years, they haven't enjoyed the same level of consistent commercial success as 20th Century Fox, largely because they tend to specialize in comparatively niche material. Something similar could be said for their awards season-friendly releases in the past (The Thin Red Line, Joy); with exceptions like Life of Pi and Bridge of Spies, the've tended to gain less traction on the Oscar circuit than Fox Searchlight's offerings (12 Years a Slave, Birdman, The Shape of Water). Sadly, under Disney's watch, that's left Fox 2000 in a position where it's clearly now seen as being disposable.

For the time being, however, it's not clear what Gabler and her crew will be doing in the immediate future. THR reports that Fox 2000's members haven't received pink slips just yet, but additional details should be arriving on that front sooner than later. Disney is further expected to finish production on the few Fox 2000 releases that are currently in the pipeline, including the Kevin Costner-anchored The Art of Racing in the Rain and, most notably, director Joe Wright's mystery novel adaptation The Woman in the Window, starring Amy Adams.

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Source: THR