Will The Fly Remake Still Happen After Disney / Fox Deal Is Done?

As I think we all known by this point in time, soon Disney will be buying up Twentieth Century Fox and all of its properties here in the near future. While there is no word on just which of Fox’s intellectual properties Disney plans to keep moving forward, today we have word (a rumor) that Disney plans to bring George Langelaan’s classic 1957 short storyThe Flyback to the big screen. You might remember that there is already another remake ofThe Flyin the works fromSleightfilmmaker J.D. Dillard who co-wrote “a cool script” with hisSleightwriting partner Alex Theurer. We’re hearing that this is still the film Disney is interested in developing.

And this news (rumor) makes a whole lot of sense to this guy, consideringThe Flyis not onlyone of the best sci-fi horror talesout there, but it has proven time and time again to be ripe for modern reimaginings. The short story was first published in the June 1957 issue of Playboy magazine - yes, THAT Playboy Magazine - and tells the story of a scientist who is transformed into a grotesque human-fly hybrid after a common housefly sneaks into a molecular transporter he is experimenting with, resulting in his atoms being combined with those of the insect.

The short story has since already spawned two hit adaptations with the first being producer-director Kurt Neumann’s 1958 film. That version starred Al Hedison, Patricia Owens, and the one and only Mr. Vincent Price (House of Wax,The Fall of the House of Usher). It was enough of a hit in its time to spawn two black-and-white sequels, Edward Bernds’sReturn of the Flywhich saw the return of Vincent Price in 1959, and Don Sharp’sCurse of the Flyin 1965.

But that’s not the only version ofThe Flyout there, of course. We also have what is probably the best-knownretooling of the short storywithVideodromeandA History of Violencedirector David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake starring Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, and John Getz. None other thanBlazing SaddlesandYoung Frankensteinfilmmaker Mel Brooks produced that remake while hiding his name as best as he could.Cronenberg and Brooks’s version was a smash hitfor Twentieth Century Fox when it was released on July 09, 2025. In total, the remake grossed over $60 million at the box office on a $9 million budget, and the make-up effects created by Chris Walas, along with makeup artist Stephan Dupuis, won an Academy Award.

J.D. Dillard and Alex Theurer’s version ofThe Fly, as you might imagine, will more than likely not be released under the main Disney banner. Again, go figure. That said, maybe the House of Mouse plans to also bring back some of their more adult-orientated sub-banners such as Touchstone Pictures, or Hollywood Pictures, or something like that. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. But whatever Disney plans to do withThe FlyI can only hope they keep it more adult-orientated as the thought of a Marvel-styleThe Flyas a superhero of-sorts tale just seems wrong on so many levels. This news was first reported atMoviehole.