First there were rumours, then there were hush-hush talks behind the scenes, before the eventual reveal that yes, the powerhouse that is Disney, was indeed in talks to buy 20th Century Fox. The long drawn out affair, which has had both positive and negative reactions from several members of Hollywood, as well as members of the public, has now officially come to a close with a result that everyone saw coming. Disney will now own Rupert Murdoch’s 20th Century Fox.
According to the press release announcing the deal, Disney will purchase Fox for $52.4 billion dollars!
Disney CEO, Bob Iger, said in a statement:
“The acquisition of this stellar collection of businesses from 21st Century Fox reflects the increasing consumer demand for a rich diversity of entertainment experiences that are more compelling, accessible and convenient than ever before. We’re honored and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we’re excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings. The deal will also substantially expand our international reach, allowing us to offer world-class storytelling and innovative distribution platforms to more consumers in key markets around the world.”
Rupert Murdoch, chairman of 20th Century Fox, responded with:
“We are extremely proud of all that we have built at 21st Century Fox, and I firmly believe that this combination with Disney will unlock even more value for shareholders as the new Disney continues to set the pace in what is an exciting and dynamic industry. Furthermore, I’m convinced that this combination, under Bob Iger’s leadership, will be one of the greatest companies in the world. I’m grateful and encouraged that Bob has agreed to stay on, and is committed to succeeding with a combined team that is second to none.”
Of course, being staunch Marvel fans, the most important aspects of this deal, for us, is the fact that Marvel will now have the rights of properties like X-Men, Deadpool and hopefully Fantastic Four back. Which, whilst is a good thing to some, begs the question of how Marvel will handle the R-rating that comes with films like Deadpool and X-Force.
Disney won’t just be getting the X-Men back, they will now also own properties such as Avatar, The Simpsons, FX Networks and National Geographic. Of course, there are still a lot of things to iron out with this deal including the management plans of the operations that this merger entails.
While all well and good, the only concern that we have, is that Disney will soon have a monopoly in the film industry and raises the question on whether unique and original content, in a variety of styles will still be explored.
Only time will tell. I do hope that with the X-Men back with Marvel, that justice will finally be done to the characters.