This summer, theatergoers are truly reacquainted with famous 20th century icons, arcing searchlights and more. Because of their popularity, Disney-owned divisions are everywhere kingdom of the planet of the apes and Alien: Romulusnot to mention first omen. even Deadpool and WolverineThe $1.3 billion-grossing film features the logo before and during the film, which is partly a love letter to the Fox-era Marvel films.
Directing 20th is Steve Asbell, a longtime Fox executive who served as president of the division when the pandemic hit in 2020. He went through transitional movies, then pandemic movies, then switched to streaming, then back to theaters again.
While the summer slate of movies is already about the franchise, the studio is very much focused on the future. It’s working with up-and-coming filmmakers on streaming capabilities, and if the opportunity arises, it could move to theaters. It is accelerating the development of some original dramatic films.
“All of this success gives us the equity and motivation to shoot these scenes,” Asbell said, noting that the department will begin production later this month on Bruce Wayne’s Bruce Wayne movie starring Jeremy Allen White. Princeton feature film and will be filming Send help January with Sam Raimi. Next year, the company will release a comedy spy thriller starring James L. Brooks and Rami Malek amateur. More projects will be launched in the summer.
Even the office is very lively now, with life-size planet of the apes The ape, decorated in cool colors, greets visitors, and a beautiful wood and glass box is being built to house the department’s many historic Oscars.
and alien With the show wrapping up in October and Sting about to begin production, Asbell, who oversees nine production executives and their support teams, is taking a breather, if only for a moment. but he sat down hollywood reporter Discussing balancing streaming and drama, original and established IP, and leaking more than his fair share of two, yes we said that two, predator Movies to be released next year.
In many ways, this summer has been 20th Century Studios’ year to make its mark on the Disney empire. So what does it mean to be a 20th Century Studio in 2024?
I’ve been here for almost five years and it’s actually been an amazing journey with Disney because there’s no us and them, it’s just us. I mean, Allen [Bergman, Disney co-chair] Has been our champion since the beginning. He supported our plans from the beginning, throughout marketing, distribution and promotion. We are very close now and are all friends. It feels very complete and it feels like this summer, especially with us being able to contribute to the larger Disney model. Now we have David Greenbaum, who, to my delight, is an old friend of mine. He’s an executive with impeccable taste who, frankly, brings real energy to both departments. So I think that means filmmakers, great franchises, and original films in theaters and streaming.
Where is the balance between original and franchise?
Now it looks like next year, half the slate. The first job is to figure out these franchise movies first and come up with the right pacing Avatar, great ape, alien and predator Specifically. Getting this right was the first part, and we’re done now. So the idea is to be able to say, “Okay, we know when Avatar The movie will be released soon. we now know predator. there will be another great ape In ’27, let’s just say that.
How do you decide what to stream and what not to stream?
The landscape has changed and the drama is back. There are more opportunities for theatrical movies, but since the Disney+ and Hulu merger, these movies have a huge audience [streaming] Movie. There’s still this problem with streaming movies where we can really take a chance and they can be what they need to be. They don’t necessarily have to meet the theatrical threshold of, “How much does it cost? How many screens?
Alien: Romulus It was supposed to go live, but it was changed before filming. So what prompted this change?
It started out as a streaming movie because we started developing it during COVID and it wasn’t clear if our strategy was going to be theatrical or streaming. We had different budget categories for streaming at the time, and we were always careful not to spend too much on streaming movies. We don’t quite know yet how they’ll perform based on these metrics. In fact, we started it hoping that drama would return to some degree of normalcy. But we made that movie, and frankly, every other movie we make for streaming, with the same care and planning as we do our theatrical movies.
what to do next alien?
We are now working on sequel ideas. We’re not quite done with the Fede deal yet [Alvarez]but we do it, and he has an idea that we’re working on. The two survivors, Wren and Andy, played by Carly Spaeny and David Jonson, are the real highlights of the film. So I always think, “Wow, where do people want to see them go next?” We know there are going to be aliens. We knew there were going to be great horror scenes. But I fell in love with both of them and I wanted to see what their story was.
Produced by Jon Landau Avatar film, sadly passed away this summer. every day Avatar 3 Has it completely changed?
Personally, it’s hard because Jon is someone I talk to every day and he’s a mentor and a good friend and has had an incredible impact on everyone. I mean, it’s a huge loss. To Jim, he was a very, very good friend and an absent-minded person [Cameron]but he describes it. We just miss him every day. But it hasn’t changed. It didn’t affect the release date or Jim’s schedule or anything. We are already on a track that has its own milestones and signposts.
Lightning round for the 20th Century Champion! free man 2?
not yet. [Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds] An idea must come up. They’re just busy.
Kingsman Sequel or prequel.
There are no plans to do this in the short term.
More Agatha Christie Mysteries.
More, yes. we have, Then there is no more. we have prosecution witness. we are doing miss marple. We are developing many other games. We have a very close relationship with the estate.
one Master and Commander Prequel?
I worked so hard. This was the first movie I made at Fox twenty years ago. We have a great script. It just takes the right director.
any Die Hard plan?
No, not yet.
This is a big one. Will it be next? predator Does the movie get a theatrical release? [Editors note: this conversation took place before Disney dated Predator: Badlands for a 2025 release in theaters.]
Yes. No.
You’re killing me here.
yes one predator There will be a theatrical version of the movie. I’ll tell you very simply. back prey Dan succeeded [Trachtenberg] When he came back, he said he didn’t want to do it. Prey 2. We’d ask, ‘What do you want to do?’ and he rattled off a bunch of really crazy but cool ideas. We’ve actually done two of them. Two models will be released next year. One I can’t talk about yet, but the other one is live action predator The movie starring Elle Fanning has just finished filming in New Zealand. The show will be released in theaters sometime next year.
You blew my mind. Let’s solve this problem then. one predator movie coming soon?
its title is wasteland This is absolutely a crazy idea. It’s a science fiction story, but not everyone thinks it is. I mean, it’s awesome. It’s crazy. But we trusted Dan.
Now you say there is a second one predator Movie.
There is a second one predator We have different planned films. Dan actually directed both films.
So there is a secret predator Movie—
there is a secret predator The movie will be released before it hits theaters, but I can’t reveal anything just yet.
wonderful. Will we eventually see another one? Alien vs. Predator?
perhaps.
Not sure how I feel about this.
Things won’t be what you think. That’s it. not in the way it is called Alien vs. Predator Or anything resembling the original movie. If we do that, they’ll be created organically from both series, and we’ll continue to use characters that we’ve fallen in love with, and those characters might come together. But we’re not there yet. We’re not just going to mess it up.
During the 30th anniversary screening speed A few weeks ago, Sandra Bullock suggested Hollywood might not be brave enough Speed 3. reply?
Hollywood is so brave. We are brave enough. We sit by the phone. (laugh)
It was one of the last movies we didn’t get a remake of. To really be a reason to return, it has to be a great idea and an exciting one (Bullock and Keanu Reeves). Because that’s why you see it. Obviously, it’s a very important title for us, but we’re not going to take it lightly or just try to force them into play. They have to be part of the development of the idea.
A version of this story first appeared in the Oct. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
