TV
A Finished “Alien vs. Predator” Anime Series Is Apparently Locked Up in the Disney Vault
The Alien and Predator franchises, long connected in the world of comic books, have remained separate entities in the many years since Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem crash landed in theaters back in 2007, with Disney now holding the rights to both franchises. Predator returned last year in Prey, while two brand new Alien projects are in the works – a movie and a TV series.
But will we ever see the Alien and Predator franchises crossover again in the future? Well, it turns out there’s an existing crossover project between the two that we HAVEN’T ever seen.
The website AvP Galaxy informs us this week that the beans were spilled by Josh Izzo during a recent episode of the Perfect Organism podcast. Izzo is the former Director of Licensing at 20th Century Fox, and he revealed during the podcast interview that a finished Alien vs. Predator animated series has been locked up in Disney’s vault since they took over Fox.
Izzo explains, “… there is sitting at Disney now, at 20th [Studios], 10 episodes of a fully completed Alien vs. Predator anime series that I produced. It’s done. It’s in the can. It’s mixed, it’s finished. It was produced and story cracked by Eric Calderon and Dave Baker. Two unbelievably crazy talented guys. Dave Bixler was head of Home Entertainment at the time – from a creative perspective – and he championed this for me.”
“At this time Covenant was still nascent and The Predator had not happened yet so the brands weren’t doing anything at the moment. It was still open season for our sci-fi brands,” Izzo continues. “So I went to Home Entertainment, [to] the woman who was in charge of marketing, her name was Rio Cyrus, [an] absolute genius, and [to head of] production Dave Bixler. I pitched them and I said ‘we own nearly 30 years of comic book content of Alien and Predator and AvP. No rights, no strings. Dark Horse did an amazing job but it’s all 20th Century Fox. It’s ours to do with as we please. Why don’t we adapt the original AvP comic book series with Machiko and Broken Tusk? Let’s just do that. Here’s your storyboard. It’s done, it’s finished.'”
From there, an unnamed director was brought on board the project, which morphed into a new storyline set in the “way deep future – post-AvP, post-Alien 4.” They got the green light and the plan was to debut the series on Alien Day in 2016, but the combination of Alien: Covenant and The Predator popping up, and Disney taking over Fox, spelled the end of the project.
Will it ever see the light of day? Your guess is as good as ours…
You can listen to Perfect Organism’s full chat with Josh Izzo below.
The Ghostbusters franchise returns to the world of animation with brand new Netflix series “Ghostbusters: Night Shift,” and the official logo has been revealed this weekend.
Expect “Ghostbusters: Night Shift” to clock in on Netflix in 2027!
Netflix previews, “Ghostbusters: Night Shift, a series from Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation based on the beloved Ghostbusters franchise, will debut exclusively on Netflix in 2027.
“The new series marks the next chapter in the franchise’s ghoul-catching legacy, bringing supernatural comedy and paranormal action back to animation.”
The upcoming animated series from Netflix will be executive produced by Ben Hibon, Elliott Kalan, Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan, Amie Karp, and Dan Aykroyd.
Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, director of the original Ghostbusters features, and Kenan co-wrote the franchise’s most recent installments, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Frozen Empire.
“This isn’t the first time the Ghostbusters universe has gone animated,” Netflix reminds in their press release today. “The 1980s and ’90s saw The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters take over the small screen. For now, you can rest assured: If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, a Ghostbuster will be on the job — even if it’s after hours.”
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