Toronto’s Revue Cinema says it will no longer be able to screen fan favourites like Die Hard and Home Alone after the 20th Century Fox back-catalogue was swallowed up by The Walt Disney Company.
Revue’s programming director Eric Veillette says independent cinemas in Canada have been worried about losing access to the archives ever since Disney took over Fox’s entertainment assets in March.
Now, he says the 20th Century Fox office in Canada has more or less made it clear that the cinema will no longer be able to show the company’s archives.
He says Disney has long held its catalogue close, not allowing cinemas to screen classics like Pinocchio and Cinderella or more recent productions from its Touchstone Pictures.
“Disney has a long history of restricting access to the films that it owns,” Veillette said on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning Wednesday. “I’ve never, ever been able to book any Disney films.”
Now that the company holds the rights to 20th Century Fox content, a huge range of productions — from silent era films, to Marilyn Monroe classics of the 1950s, to more recent blockbusters — are also under its control.
“It’s a reversal of a great policy that allowed us to access these films,” he said.
Veillette says while it’s a shame to lose the titles, there is still a wide range of films from other studios for the independent, non-profit Revue Cinema to choose from.
Disney did not immediately return a request for comment.