It’s a deal that’s been in the works for over a year. It now appears that the Disney and Fox deal will complete sometime towards the end of January 2019. According to a report from NBC News, industry insiders are saying the deal should be signed sometime during the last week of January.
Marvel
The joining of these two companies will have some pretty substantial implications for many of both companies’ properties. The Marvel characters, including X-Men, and the Fantastic 4, will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This could begin happening within six months of the deal happening. Bob Iger has confirmed before that the Marvel characters currently owned by Fox will come under Kevin Fiege’s domain.
“I think it only makes sense,” Iger said. “I want to be careful here because of what’s been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn’t be two Marvels.”
Star Wars
Marvel isn’t the only area of The Walt Disney Company set to benefit with the merger, however. The merger will bring all of the Star Wars movies back into the realm of Disney. While many assume that Disney already owns Star Wars, this is only partially correct. Fox jointly owned Star Wars: A New Hope, along with the distribution rights to the first two trilogies. Once this deal is done, Disney will own free and clear both the movies and distribution rights to the Skywalker Saga films. Could this mean a nine-movie home entertainment release sometime in 2020? Only time will tell!
Fox Properties
While these are two of the most visible portfolios that will be coming under the wing of Disney with the acquisition of Fox, there will be many other properties including:
- Avatar (and future sequels)
- The Simpsons
- Family Guy
- Bob’s Burgers
- American Dad!
- King of the Hill
- The Alien franchise
- The Predator franchise
- X-Files
- American Horror Story
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Ice Age
- Rio
- The Peanuts Movie
- Blue Sky Studios
- Home Alone
- Miracle on 34th Street
- The Sound of Music
- Planet of the Apes
- Fox’s Searchlight Pictures
These are just a few of the highlights of what Disney will be purchasing with this deal with Fox. What do you find most exciting? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
