(Newswire.net — November 10, 2017) —
Earlier this week reports surfaced of Disney going into talks with Twenty-First Century Fox. Reports claim that it was Disney who initiated the negotiations hoping to buy some media assets.
As soon as the public had garnered interest in the possible merger it was rumored that the deal was off the table.
Although negotiations between Disney and Fox have stalled they may resume, and nothing is currently certain.
Fox is looking to downsize, wanting to focus on the Fox News network and Fox Sports. Both sports and news are cheaper and easier to produce, and yield higher profit margins than television and theatrical releases.
Disney is not pursuing the network Fox wishes to keep since they already own ABC and owning two networks would not be legal.
Disney already owns properties such as Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar and ESPN and is looking to expand. Most fans were eager to speculate on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and possible hero crossovers. Movie rights for some comic book characters currently belong to Fox, most notably the X-men and the Fantastic Four.
Even with the buyout potentially cancelled there is still a chance for movie crossovers. Sony holds the rights to Spider-Man, but they were still able to work out a deal with Disney resulting in this summer’s box office hit Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Another possible reason for the expansion could be the fact that Disney is looking to rival Netflix with a streaming service of their own. The service is scheduled for launch by the end of 2019, and Disney is looking to expand their offer.
Movies from the Marvel Cinematic universe have already been confirmed for removal from Netflix in order to transition to Disney’s platform. There is a strong chance that the same will happen to the Netflix original Marvel TV shows, with The Punisher, scheduled for a Nov. 17 release, being the last show they announced, and no new shows are currently in development for Netflix.
In the time Disney has held the rights to Marvel there has been an attempt to diminish the spotlight on the super-hero properties owned by Fox. Marvel has tried to downplay the importance of the X-men in their comic books, and instead trying to push other properties such as the Avengers and the Inhumans.
Marvel has cancelled licensing the IP for some franchises even going as far as to cancel the Fantastic Four comic book in 2015. The Fantastic Four has been a flagship for Marvel ever since its first publication in 1961.
All of this was done in an attempt to distance themselves from properties whose movie licenses don’t belong to Disney and to diminish the value of those properties.