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Disney planning to buy Fox

addiesin

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ThrowgnCpr said:
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?

That I do not know.
 

Gaith

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^ I hear that two Jedi have been dispatched to mediate the dispute...
 

Moe_Syzlak

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Gaith said:
^ I hear that two Jedi have been dispatched to mediate the dispute...

I sense an unusual amount of fear in this thread for something as trivial as a corporate acquisition.
 

Zamros

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Moe_Syzlak said:
Gaith said:
^ I hear that two Jedi have been dispatched to mediate the dispute...

I sense an unusual amount of fear in this thread for something as trivial as a corporate acquisition.

These Hollywood types are cowards, negotiations will be short.
 

The Scribbling Man

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Zamros said:
Moe_Syzlak said:
Gaith said:
^ I hear that two Jedi have been dispatched to mediate the dispute...

I sense an unusual amount of fear in this thread for something as trivial as a corporate acquisition.

These Hollywood types are cowards, negotiations will be short.

You were right about one thing, Zamros - but tell you, I will not.
 

TV's Frink

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

Blank+_b7bc8b4608d211c59499eea4be5512fd.jpg

Poor Brian, he wants so many things.
 

DSM2337

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Interestingly, I actually have skin in this game as I work for a company that Fox are in the process of trying to acquire outright. That process has taken over a year now because of government oversight. In the end Disney will own us, or the share Fox currently own if the government says no.

We've heard that the Disney buy out will take about a year to finalise (the Fox buyout of us being decided in the summer). Negotiations are done, but the US government will want to have a look at it, and the legal stuff will need to be written, checked, and double checked.

I know nothing of trademarks, but I imagine they'll keep the 20th Century Fox brand for movies and TV. Fox News and Fox Sports will keep their branding.

Personally, I'd rather be part of Disney than Fox, but that has nothing to do with films and fictional tv.
 

TomH1138

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Wow, a lot of really interesting responses! Thanks to everyone for making this such a lively topic!

@"Zamros", I do agree with you about "quality over quantity." Fewer superhero movies isn't inherently a bad thing. I guess my thinking there was more along the lines of: "Do X-Men fans really understand what they're pushing for?" 

That said, the comments from Jodie Foster and others in the industry -- sentiments along the lines of "Superhero movies are ruining the film industry" -- strike me as absurd. I don't mind the average person saying a thing like that, but somebody who works in the industry ought to know the history. There's always one genre that does better at the box office than anything else during a given time, and there's always a glut of films made in that genre during its peak period: Westerns, musicals, outer-space movies, spy movies, epic fantasies. Right now it's superhero movies' turn. Eliminating all superhero movies tomorrow wouldn't raise the level of art coming out of cinema; there would just be another popular genre to take its place (and eventually there will be).

I'm surprised that so many people in the thread don't like the MCU and think that they'll ruin the X-Men (although they're entitled to that). Not every film that comes out of the MCU is a masterpiece, but they have a higher batting average than anyone else I know. And even in this last year, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Thor: Ragnarok are all high water marks for the franchise, with the latter not only being considered the best Thor movie, but (in many things I've read) the best MCU movie, period. I wish any of the other franchises that I like could be that consistent after so long!

(But again, I'm still glad people shared alternate opinions. It's always fascinating to see responses that one isn't expecting. When I originally posted about the Disney-Fox merger on my blog, everyone said, "Yeah, but the X-Men movies are gonna be amazing," so I made sure to address that up front this time -- only to find that many people here don't agree! With a different mix of people, it's always interesting to see the different directions a discussion will go.)

@"addiesin", Disney and Fox have both agreed to the terms of the deal, but it will take between a year and 18 months for the deal to be finalized -- and that's assuming that it passes the trade commission investigation. (And thanks to @"DSM2337" for his insider knowledge that helps clear things up a bit more!)

In the meantime, if the deal does go through, let me leave you with a list of bizarre titles that would technically be true, even if we never actually see them branded that way:


"Disney's Married...with Children."

"Disney's Planet of the Apes."

"Disney's The X-Files."
 

TomH1138

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addiesin said:
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.  ;)

Just wanted to add, thank you for this, and I agree with everything in it. :D
 

addiesin

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Do you think they'll rename to rebrand? 

21st Century Mouse?




OR do you think what's left of Fox will rename itself Murdoch News (or something similar) so Disney can keep the Fox name?
 

TomH1138

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addiesin said:
Do you think they'll rename to rebrand? 

21st Century Mouse?

OR do you think what's left of Fox will rename itself Murdoch News (or something similar) so Disney can keep the Fox name?

The word on the street is that Fox's news and sports divisions will be rebranded as "new Fox." Still no word on who gets the logo or fanfare.

As for TV material, I could see all of it getting branded "ABC Studios." The current trend is for any TV content owned by a studio to be branded by whatever network is also owned by the same company, regardless of what network it originally aired on. Hence, Taxi DVDs have a "CBS Video" logo on them, since Viacom owns both that network as well as Paramount, which produced Taxi, even though it aired on ABC and then NBC but never on the Eyeball Network.

If Disney follows the same strategy, look for shows like Modern Family (produced by Fox, airing on ABC) to get the "ABC Studios" logo quickly added to them. Still up in the air are what Disney would do with something like The Simpsons. It would be very odd to see a show that has always been produced by, and aired on, Fox to suddenly get "ABC Studios" slapped on the DVDs and merchandise. Especially since The Simpsons is one of the original shows that Fox aired to distinguish itself from the less edgy fare of the other networks of the time, such a labeling would feel truly ironic.

There's another aspect I failed to mention, and have only just barely heard a few other sites talk about: Disney is planning on launching a streaming service(s) sometime later this year, and with the purchase, they'll also have a controlling interest in Hulu. Depending on if/when the sale is finalized, they've just exponentially increased their TV and film library for such a service. 

On the one hand, that might give a new lease on life for some old Fox shows and movies that are too obscure to otherwise get such a release. On the other hand, Disney is infamous for ignoring anything that they can't make a billion dollars on, so maybe the shows getting a little bit of attention will get even less attention under the new regime. 

Still a lot of questions and a lot of things up in the air right now!
 

addiesin

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TomH1138 said:
There's another aspect I failed to mention, and have only just barely heard a few other sites talk about: Disney is planning on launching a streaming service(s) sometime later this year, and with the purchase, they'll also have a controlling interest in Hulu. Depending on if/when the sale is finalized, they've just exponentially increased their TV and film library for such a service. 

I'm glad you brought that up. I'm pretty sure Disney will buy out the other companies involved (from their stake in Hulu, I'm not saying they'll literally buy the companies), or will use their controlling interest to renegotiate whatever contact they've inherited. Then I think Hulu will simply be rebranded and will become their streaming service. It makes more sense than building an all new service.
 

TomH1138

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addiesin said:
I'm glad you brought that up. I'm pretty sure Disney will buy out the other companies involved (from their stake in Hulu, I'm not saying they'll literally buy the companies), or will use their controlling interest to renegotiate whatever contact they've inherited. Then I think Hulu will simply be rebranded and will become their streaming service. It makes more sense than building an all new service.

I agree, that makes the most sense. However, there have been rumblings that Disney might do multiple separate streaming services: one for Disney animated and family-friendly stuff; one for Marvel/Lucasfilm action stuff; one for ESPN and other sports-related stuff; etc.

I am adamantly against this idea. The reason why so many people have cut the cords of cable is because it got to be obscenely expensive. Netflix offered a much more reasonable, affordable alternative. If Disney thinks we're going to shell out $20 a month for multiple services from one company, I think they're going to be in for a rude awakening. 

(Mind you, Disney already has a streaming platform that offers all of this content for roughly 2 or 3 American dollars.)

At any rate, these plans are not confirmed, so let's hope Disney is sensible when the time comes, or that the market gets them to course-correct.
 

The Scribbling Man

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TomH1138 said:
If Disney thinks we're going to shell out $20 a month for multiple services from one company, I think they're going to be in for a rude awakening. 

Or not. 

You know what they say... 

 

Moe_Syzlak

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TomH1138 said:
I agree, that makes the most sense. However, there have been rumblings that Disney might do multiple separate streaming services: one for Disney animated and family-friendly stuff; one for Marvel/Lucasfilm action stuff; one for ESPN and other sports-related stuff; etc.

I am adamantly against this idea. The reason why so many people have cut the cords of cable is because it got to be obscenely expensive. Netflix offered a much more reasonable, affordable alternative. If Disney thinks we're going to shell out $20 a month for multiple services from one company, I think they're going to be in for a rude awakening. 
Well I won’t speak for the masses, but we cut the cord for two main reasons: 1. My kids were starting to be brainwashed by commercials; 2. I grew tired of paying $100/month for the handful of channels we actually watched. 

So one could argue that if Disney were to break up their services it would allow for more freedom of choice. For example, ESPN is expensive. If you’re not into sports, you’d likely save a bundle by not subscribing to that service. Likewise, I couldn’t give a shit about superheroes and any Lucasfilm content I’d want, I already own. So for me, I’d be most interested in the kid’s programming (classic Disney and Pixar). If I could get that alone for under $10, I’d be more inclined to subscribe than if it were all bundled for $30.
 

addiesin

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Getting really speculative, but there is precedent to having one (already established) streaming service with multiple subscription tiers. Netflix and Hulu already do this, though not yet as a way to filter content. YouTube also has two subscription models running next to their free offerings, and those subscriptions do filter content. Then there's the obvious cable package model they could follow, not too different from this concept from the end user perspective, honestly.

I'm just saying that though they might segment their content, it doesn't necessarily mean each segment will have to be a whole separate service/app.
 

Moe_Syzlak

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I agree with that. I would imagine a Disney app, which branded content segmented beneath. I’d much rather have that than be forced to shell out a few extra bucks for Fox News.
 

TomH1138

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Oops, I forgot to reply to this!

@"Moe_Syzlak", you make some very good points. Not wanting to pay for a bunch of sports channels that I won't watch is why I never got cable. But I could see a tiered subscription service working.

I would probably want all the other Disney/Lucasfilm/Marvel stuff, though. But at some point it becomes prohibitively expensive.
 

Zamros

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Capitalism is Cancer. Hierarchy is Horrible. Intellectual Property law is Insane.

Burn it all down.
 

Nic

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Zamros said:

Capitalism is Cancer. Hierarchy is Horrible. Intellectual Property law is Insane.

Burn it all down.

And now, the OTHER half of the conversation:

 
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