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Disney planning to buy Fox

TomH1138

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So you've probably all heard about this by now, but I didn't see a thread for it, so even though this news story is about a month old, I still think it's worth discussing. 

Unsurprisingly, when the news broke, the first thing that most people focused on was an obvious positive: that the X-Men and the Fantastic Four could finally be brought into the MCU. But most people talked about seeing Hugh Jackman as Wolverine standing alongside Cap and Iron Man, but that was never gonna happen. 1) Just as with Spider-Man, I'm certain that Marvel is going to reboot the franchise. 2) Hugh Jackman has confirmed that he's still retired from the role after Logan. (And honestly, Logan was a huge critical and financial hit. How many actors get to go out on top like that?)

Anyway, only about half the X-Men movies are good, and there hasn't been a truly amazing FF film. The quality level should go up when they're Feige-produced.

The other positive is that Disney would be able to fully own all the Star Wars movies. Five of those films -- from Empire to Revenge of the Sith -- were going to be owned by the Mouse House after 2020 anyway, but the original 1977 movie was always going to be owned by Fox. Mainly this is a positive for Disney itself; for the average moviegoer, this is more of an interesting legal footnote.

Anyway, if Disney were just buying a few characters and some films, I think the story would end here. But I've seen very few articles or online talk about the fact that Disney isn't just buying a few properties; they're buying an entire studio. There are some interesting and weird repercussions for that.

--For years, many people have mistakenly thought that Anastasia was a Disney princess, because the Fox-produced Don Bluth film was made very much in the same style as the movies coming out from Disney at that point. Animation fans have spent years correcting that error; now it might actually come true. Whether or not we’ll see her at the parks standing alongside Cinderella and Mulan is up for debate, but it would technically be possible.

I expect that the Fox-owned Blue Sky animation studio will probably shutter its doors, although I can see Disney using the lucrative Ice Age franchise to their benefit.

--Disney already owns a quarter of the characters at the Universal theme park in Florida, since their licensing arrangement to use Marvel characters predates the sale to Disney. If the Fox sale goes through, then Universal’s new Simpsons-themed area will also feature characters licensed from Disney. At that point, roughly half the park will be Disney-licensed.

And even though it must bother Universal on some level to support Disney, they aren’t going to tear up a brand-new expensive area to the park. Indeed, after the Marvel sale, Universal doubled down and refurbished some of the rides, as if to taunt Disney for being unable to use those characters in their own park.

--People seem to think that we’re going to see just as many X-Men films as we currently do; they’re just going to be of better quality. I don’t. Fox has a reason to keep making movies as a standalone studio, but Disney would just be competing against itself if it releases too many films in a year. Not only do I think we’re about to get half the amount of Marvel-related movies that we’re currently getting, but I think that most movies released under the Fox banner will go away, period.

--The Fox Network, as well as the news and sports divisions, will continue to operate as a separate entity. That raises a question I’ve not heard asked by anyone else: Who gets the logo?

If the networks get to retain the logo, then Disney gets a vast library of films that they can’t distribute under their family-friendly branding, such as the Alien and Predator films and the Die Hard movies. A possible solution is to have all of these films rebranded under the Touchstone logo. Touchstone has already become a husk of its former self, mainly serving as a distribution house for DreamWorks live-action films over the last few years (and DreamWorks moves over to Universal this year).

If Disney gets the Fox logo, then there will probably be at least one noticeable positive change: Star Wars Ep. IX could debut with the Fox Fanfare finally back in place.

--I read somewhere that the FCC (?) is investigating this sale and whether or not it violates antitrust laws. That’s a good thing. While this wouldn’t be a monopoly, our entertainment industry is getting close to an oligopoly, where just a few companies own everything. Disney-Fox would own a third of the entire entertainment industry. But competition is a healthy thing economically, and we need room for independent voices in the media.

So the deal may not go through after all. However, I read one article that said this would be “the sixth largest media merger ever”—meaning that there are five other larger mergers that already got approved.

Anyway, those are my ramblings on the subject. What does everyone else think?
 

theryaney

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Yeah, this news is pretty old, though still interesting to sprout discussions here in our community. 

Can I just point out one more time that Disney is seriously biting off major studios, and I think it's not more that it can chew. I won't be surprised with an entertainment world all owned by Disney.

But I am anticipating mutants in the MCU. It'll be pretty interesting how they would introduce them out of the blue though.
 

Sinbad

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Pretty simple one for me Fox have been at the helm of some of my favourite franchises in the past Alien, Die Hard, The Apes films, X-men the list goes on. Can't think of anything from Disney/Touchstone that  I personally have any great love for, while the Alien and Die Hard franchises have fallen on hard times of late, the idea of Disney tackling them doesn't sound too enticing
 

Zamros

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we’re about to get half the amount of Marvel-related movies that we’re currently getting.

I really hope this happens. It's not that I don't want to see more Marvel films, more that I want to see more GREAT Marvel films.

Quality over quantity etc.

While I like the idea of the Fantastic Four (and Deadpool) joining the MCU. I'm a little ambivalent to the X-Men joining as well. I think mutants work better as a separate entity, as it's easier to double down on social commentary of prejudice when there aren't personified contradictions flying around New York City.

Deadpool is Deadpool, so there is no reason for him to obey the same laws as any comic medium. He could show up in the next DCEU flop and it would make sense in context.

I'm also extremely concerned about the increasing oligopolisation of the american movie industry. Especially as oligopolies can form monopolies within certain subsectors. Now Disney owns Fox, who is competing with Marvel? Warner Bros seem aggressively incompetent. Without a credible opposition, Marvel has no reason to change what they're doing.

If nothing else, this sale has made me lose all faith in the Hollywood studio establishment. And I was already scraping from the bottom of my faith barrel.
It's getting harder and harder to justify paying to see the same blockbuster with a different coat of paint, when there's so many vastly superior independent films I could be spending my money on.

Jodie Foster said that superhero films are bad for the industry, (and although she erroneously compared it to fracking, wtf) I'm starting to agree with her.
 

The Scribbling Man

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I'm so tired of the MCU. One of the things I like about X-Men is that it's not tied into it. It stands apart, has a different tone and generally seems to be of better quality. I hate how there seems to be this current trend with Super Hero movies where everything has to be connected. It's definitely quantity over quality.

If X-Men were part of MCU, you wouldn't get films like Logan, that's for sure. And for me, Logan is easily one of best films in the X-Men franchise.
 

ThrowgnCpr

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The Scribbling Man said:
If X-Men were part of MCU, you wouldn't get films like Logan, that's for sure. And for me, Logan is easily one of best films in the X-Men franchise.

^ This, and I would take it a step further and say that Logan is easily one of the best films based on comic book characters.
 

Sinbad

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The Scribbling Man said:
I hate how there seems to be this current trend with Super Hero movies where everything has to be connected. It's definitely quantity over quality.

Ditto I remember watching Ant-man (which worked pretty well as an incredible shrinking man/heist movie) grind to a halt halfway through to factor itself into the MCU, it really took me out of the film up to that point I was just enjoying it for what it was. The new Avengers movies look very cool from a 'everything including the kitchen sink marvel property wise is gonna be included guys' perspective, but I question if they will be able to tell a half decent story inbetween all the CGI setpieces with so many characters to juggle.
 

TV's Frink

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I'm just excited for Fox News to become Disney News.
 

Moe_Syzlak

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ThrowgnCpr said:
The Scribbling Man said:
If X-Men were part of MCU, you wouldn't get films like Logan, that's for sure. And for me, Logan is easily one of best films in the X-Men franchise.

^ This, and I would take it a step further and say that Logan is easily one of the best films based on comic book characters.
While I didn’t love Logan as much as some of you, I thought it was the best superhero movie to date. And that includes the Nolan Batman movies. This genre is not my wheelhouse, but I tend to agree the Jodie Foster sentiment stated above (for the record, the above reference is all I know of Foster’s opinions on superhero movies). It seems they are more formulaic than ever. I was kind of won over in the beginning with Iron Man, but even that seems to have simply been RDJr.’s charm more than anything for me. There’s nothing inherently wrong with a formula. But I think if you’re going to churn out formulaic movies that are decent popcorn entertainment that people will buy tickets for, you’re doomed to see few, if any, really great movies. As they say, good is the enemy of great.
 

Gaith

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Yeah, there's really no part of this I like - not the increasing market domination of the Disney behemoth, not the prospect of bringing mutants into the MCU when it already has Inhumans and the X-Men work just fine on their own (heck, I don't even think Batman and Superman should mix), and I certainly don't care about the Fantastic Four or whether the Fox logo opens a Star Wars movie... but, compared to the massive 1% tax cut, this isn't even close to the worst thing going on in the corporate world at the moment. :-/
 

ThrowgnCpr

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Moe_Syzlak said:
ThrowgnCpr said:
The Scribbling Man said:
If X-Men were part of MCU, you wouldn't get films like Logan, that's for sure. And for me, Logan is easily one of best films in the X-Men franchise.

^ This, and I would take it a step further and say that Logan is easily one of the best films based on comic book characters.
While I didn’t love Logan as much as some of you, I thought it was the best superhero movie to date. And that includes the Nolan Batman movies. This genre is not my wheelhouse, but I tend to agree the Jodie Foster sentiment stated above (for the record, the above reference is all I know of Foster’s opinions on superhero movies). It seems they are more formulaic than ever. I was kind of won over in the beginning with Iron Man, but even that seems to have simply been RDJr.’s charm more than anything for me. There’s nothing inherently wrong with a formula. But I think if you’re going to churn out formulaic movies that are decent popcorn entertainment that people will buy tickets for, you’re doomed to see few, if any, really great movies. As they say, good is the enemy of great.

This is mostly how I feel. I lean toward's Foster's opinions, and I don't care for the majority of super hero/comic book stuff.
 

Zamros

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ThrowgnCpr said:
^ This, and I would take it a step further and say that Logan is easily one of the best films based on comic book characters.

If the first act was tightened up slightly, Alexander Rice was more interesting and X-24 was Sabertooth instead of Cloneverine, it would have eclipsed The Dark Knight imo.

It easily takes close second place, in the comic book genre.

I do hope Marvel start taking risks outside of "Who should we adapt next?". So far, the only Indie director they dragged up to AAA films that has clearly made a film differentiable from the rest is Jon Watts with Spider-Man: Homecoming. And even that has a lame third act like so many other Marvel properties.

Waititi and Gunn came close, but both Thor 3 and the Guardians films still lean too much on tropes.

Maybe a Touchstone series of superhero films could salvage something from the MCU fatigue, but I'm not holding out hope

whether the Fox logo opens a Star Wars movie..

This sentiment has always confused me. I'm not sure what emotional stock I'm supposed to put into a corporation's logo before what I actually came to see.
 

addiesin

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In my opinion, it is somewhat of a trade-off. Disney's Marvel films are consistent. You know what to expect, just about every time. In a way it's similar to their in-house animation studio or Pixar. With WB, Sony, and Fox, superhero films are still a gamble. Their best movies tend to be better than Marvel's best, but their overall bar and average quality level is lower. 

That said, Marvel has already announced they're still doing Deadpool movies etc. So no reason to be too sour about it from the audience perspective. From the business side, big companies merging and consolidating is pretty scary, I agree.

THAT said, this IS the golden age of superhero films. I am a BIG FAN of superhero films. I have been in what can essentially be described as 'movie heaven' for about a decade and a half, and I realize that it will end some time, as all things must. This could conceivably be seen as a step toward that end. This is a strangely specific time to live in, where people still crave basic action movies with a side of humor, but expect complicated special effects, and have been conditioned to connect those things with capes and codenames. If it wasn't for superhero movies, I think we'd be in the same place, with people complaining about a different subset of action films ruining the market.

All I can say to those who are not fans is, your time too will come. For example; Throw, I'm sure some day bird movies will get really big.  ;)
 

The Scribbling Man

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addiesin said:
All I can say to those who are not fans is, your time too will come. For example; Throw, I'm sure some day bird movies will get really big.  ;)

Porg spin-offs heading our way...
 

ThrowgnCpr

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The Scribbling Man said:
Porg spin-offs heading our way...

Blank+_b7bc8b4608d211c59499eea4be5512fd.jpg
 

addiesin

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The Scribbling Man said:
addiesin said:
All I can say to those who are not fans is, your time too will come. For example; Throw, I'm sure some day bird movies will get really big.  ;)

Porg spin-offs heading our way...

With David Attenborough narrating...

...as was suggested by someone in Frink's thread. (It's not my joke, it just works here.)
 

Moe_Syzlak

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Zamros said:
If the first act was tightened up slightly, Alexander Rice was more interesting and X-24 was Sabertooth instead of Cloneverine, it would have eclipsed The Dark Knight imo.

It easily takes close second place, in the comic book genre.

While I appreciate that Nolan was trying to elevate the narrative depth of superhero movies, I’m always a bit perplexed by the love for his Batman movies. They seem to exist in a more “real world” and be darker in tone and theme than the typical superhero stuff. That approach seems to be generally loathed in other DC movies. And aside from a captivating, if one note, performance from Ledger, I found them to be internally inconsistent and narratively a mess. Even the action, while admirably practical, was frenetic to the point of incoherence. Even more so than Star Wars, it seems the who is making the film tends to color fans’ reception to them. To make this on topic ( :p ), I’ll add that Disney ownership could have made some fans dislike Logan simply on principle, even if subconsciously.
 

The Scribbling Man

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Moe_Syzlak said:
While I appreciate that Nolan was trying to elevate the narrative depth of superhero movies, I’m always a bit perplexed by the love for his Batman movies. They seem to exist in a more “real world” and be darker in tone and theme than the typical superhero stuff. 

I've always thought Batman should be dark, it's never worked when it hasn't. And tbh, even when you look at the adaptations that are a bit more quirky (Adam West excluded), it's still ended up dark - just a weird dark. 
Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are the only Batman movies I've enjoyed. Dark Knight Rises is horrendous, however, but still gets too much praise (it's on the IMDB top 250 for crying out loud), of which I place the blame solely on it being a Nolan movie. 

To make this on topic ( :p ), I’ll add that Disney ownership could have made some fans dislike Logan simply on principle, even if subconsciously.

Maybe. But also, probably not, because - as I've already said - Disney would never make that sort of film. 

(Sigh) I guess you were being hypothetical... but still - probably not. 

Also, I'm not against super hero movies being fun and lighthearted. It suits (pun intended) some more than others. My problem with MCU is less the tone and more the formula. It's not surprising, it's not original, it's nearly always the same except [insert hero name here] is involved instead of [insert hero name here].
 

addiesin

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Should the thread not be titled "Disney Bought Fox"?

Isn't the deal over?
 

ThrowgnCpr

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addiesin said:
Should the thread not be titled "Disney Bought Fox"?

Isn't the deal over?

The deal is done, but did it pass trade commission investigation?
 
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