Disney to shutter Greenwich’s Blue Sky Studios

Disney has announced it will be closing its Greenwich-headquartered Blue Sky Studios, impacting 450 employees.

Blue Sky was founded in 1987, was acquired by 20th Century Fox in 1997, which itself was acquired by Disney in 2019. Before the Disney acquisition, Blue Sky was best known for its “Ice Age” franchise that spanned five feature films and grossed $3.2 billion at the global box office.

According to a report in the entertainment industry trade journal Deadline, Blue Sky”™s last feature “Spies in Disguise” was released by Disney in December 2019 as the potential launch of a new franchise, but was a box office disappointment. The studio was working on the Patrick Osborne-directed “Nimona” for a January 2022 release, but production on that film has been canceled.

Disney plans to shut the studio in April and is working with its employees for job placement at other Disney operations.