Not much good has come from Fox Atomic in the past, unless you're a teenager who's really into generic comedies like Miss March or horror nonsense like Turistas. But barely two years into its existence, before it got a chance to prove itself, really, 20th Century Fox is pulling the plug on their genre arm, absorbing it back into the parent company as if nothing ever happened.
Variety is reporting the news without comment from Fox, which means it's entirely possible that there's a denial forthcoming. After all, the studio has two relatively high-profile projects planned in the coming months, the Hayden Panettiere high school comedy I Love You Beth Cooper and (much more interestingly) Diablo Cody's horror comedy Jennifer's Body.
But the fact is those films have just as good a shot as succeeding if released by the parent studio, and big Fox needs all the help it can get, given how many flops they've managed to churn out lately. Sure, I Love You Beth Cooper isn't going to set the box office on fire, but if it can even recoup its losses, it's a good start. Fox Atomic hasn't been around long enough for anyone to actually mourn its demise, and by trimming the fat Fox may be able to focus a little more on what actually works for them. Seems like a good situation for everyone except the Atomic employees losing their jobs-- go figure.
