Mega Man and Assassin’s Creed movies in doubt after Fox restructuring

Plans for new movies based on Mega Man, The Sims, Hitman and Assassin’s Creed appear in doubt, after Disney announced it will redefine Fox’s film development strategy.

Following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets earlier this year, the film production company posted a $170 million operating loss during its parent company’s third financial quarter, which Disney attributed to the underperformance of Fox’s theatrical titles, including X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

The wider Walt Disney Studios film division generated $8 billion at the global box office in 2019, a new industry record.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said it plans to take Fox’s film output in a new direction focusing on “a select group of high-quality movies for theatrical release”, as well as its streaming platforms Hulu and Disney+.

Iger specifically named Avatar, Planet of the Apes, Marvel’s X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool as theatrical IP Disney sees long-term value in.

Capcom announced plans for a Mega Man feature film with Fox in October 2018. The movie was to be written and directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who are known for the Paranormal Activity series.

Meanwhile 2016’s Assassin’s Creed movie starring Michael Fassbender had two planned sequels, although it’s not clear if either would have gone ahead after the first film was poorly received by critics.

Movie rights for The Sims were acquired by 21^st Century Fox over a decade ago, so it’s unclear if a film based on the franchise would ever have entered production. A list of Fox projects can be found on Reddit.