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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Nov 9, 2017 17:57:44 GMT -6
icv2.com/articles/news/view/38855/disney-eying-fox-assetsDISNEY EYING FOX ASSETS That Would Solve the X-Men Problem Posted by Milton Griepp on November 6, 2017 @ 2:48 pm CT In a story that rocked the media world, Disney held talks with Fox to acquire a number of key assets, including 21st Century Fox Studios, Sky and Star, FX Networks, and National Geographic, CNBC is reporting. Fox would keep its news and sports operations, broadcast network, and TV stations. A Disney-Fox deal as outlined would give Disney additional content for its upcoming over-the-top network, which is going to move a lot of geek content off Netflix and onto Disney’s proprietary direct-to-consumer service (see “Disney Drops the Other Shoe on Netflix”). Most important for the business of geek culture, a Disney-Fox deal would give Marvel even more control over its comic-based movies and TV shows, bringing the Fox X-Men movies (including Deadpool, Logan, New Mutants, etc., see “Six Marvel Films for 20th Century Fox”) into the fold, and potentially into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The same is true of the currently (sadly) inactive Fantastic Four franchise. It could also give Marvel control over Fox’s X-Men TV shows, current and planned, which includes the recently launched The Gifted (see “’The Gifted’ Comic-Con Trailer”). Depending on how the assets were grouped, a Disney-Fox deal could also give Disney part ownership of BOOM! Studios, through Fox’s recent investment in the company (see “Twentieth Century Fox Buys into BOOM! Studios”). Talks have apparently paused, but given the scale of the potential impacts on the geek culture business, it’s definitely something we’ll continue to follow.
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Nov 9, 2017 20:27:11 GMT -6
variety.com/2017/biz/news/21st-century-fox-disney-sale-talks-stock-1202607912/21st Century Fox Shares Soar on Report of Disney Sale Talks Shares in 21st Century Fox soared 9% on Monday following a market-rattling report from CNBC that the Murdochs have held talks in recent weeks to sell a large portion of their media conglomerate to Disney. CNBC’s David Faber reported that the sale talks have centered around the 20th Century Fox movie and TV production operations, the FX Networks and National Geographic TV cable groups as well as Fox’s enormous portfolio of international channels. The Murdochs maintain tight control of 21st Century Fox, as well as the separate News Corp. entity, through Rupert Murdoch’s control of nearly 40% of the voting shares in Fox. The notion of Rupert Murdoch as a seller comes as a shock to media biz watchers, given his legacy as the mogul known for his empire building in the 1980s and ’90s and his voracious appetite for acquisitions. Rupert Murdoch has long been seen as the consummate buyer, never a seller. The deal, as reported by CNBC, would leave Fox with the Fox Broadcasting Co. network, the Fox Television Stations unit and the Fox Sports and Fox News operations. Those carve-outs are no surprise as FCC rules bar one company from owning more than one of the Big Four broadcast networks. Disney already owns ABC. The combination of Fox Sports with Disney’s ESPN and Fox News with ABC News might also raise anti-trust hackles. Fox’s stock price shot up more than 6% within a half-hour of the CNBC report, which hit around 1:30 p.m. ET. Fox shares were up 9% at closing to $26.62, which is still well shy of its 52-week high of $31.94. Disney shares gained 2% to close at $100.64. Reps for Disney and 21st Century Fox did not return calls seeking comment. Fox at present is in the midst of a prolonged regulatory review in the U.K. to buyout the remaining 61% in European satcaster Sky that it does not already own. Word of the Disney sale talks could indicate a lack of confidence among the Murdochs that the acquisition will pass muster with regulators who have long wrestled with Murdochs’ influence over U.K. media. Earlier Monday, U.K. regulator Ofcom censured the Fox News operation for violating “impartiality rules” with primetime shows hosted by Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Fox News was pulled off the air in the U.K. in August by Sky, citing its tiny audience. But the rebuke from Ofcom is seen as more evidence that regulators are taking a dim view of Fox’s full-fledged Sky takeover. CNBC reported that in considering a sale to Disney, the Murdochs believe a smaller operation more focused on news and sports might carve out a more competitive niche. At present, 21st Century Fox is still a heavyweight industry player but it is dwarfed in size by Comcast-NBCUniversal, Disney, and the pending AT&T-Time Warner union. CNBC reported the Murdochs are concerned that 21st Century Fox is unable to achieve the global scale that traditional media giants need to stay competitive with the tech giants that have been actively diving into content and distribution: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. For Disney, the acquisition as reported would strengthen its market share in film — which is already considerable thanks to the Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm banners — and beef up its TV content production activity. Fox’s film and TV vault would also be a boon to the standalone entertainment streaming service that Disney plans to launch in 2019. Moreover, Fox has a much more significant presence in international TV than Disney through its portfolio of 300-plus channels across Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Even if Fox’s Sky acquisition is ultimately nixed, Fox’s existing 39% interest in Sky would bolster Disney’s international TV footprint.
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Nov 10, 2017 16:15:12 GMT -6
www.cbr.com/disney-fox-talks-still-alive/REPORT: Disney’s Bid to Buy Fox’s Movie Assets Isn’t Dead Yet Despite indication that Disney’s potential acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s movie assets was thought to be dead, a new report notes that “pencils aren’t down,” meaning, the deal could still very well happen. According to CNBC, Disney and Fox “haven’t given up” on the idea to house their film divisions under one corporation at Disney. This should undoubtedly please fans hoping for the Fantastic Four and X-Men’s film rights under the same roof as characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The deal between Disney and Sony to have Spider-Man be a part of the MCU went through a similar news cycle, with reports of the rights being handed over, before other reports speculated the deal was dead. Of course, it eventually happened, and we got Spider-Man’s appearance in Captain America: Civil War, and subsequently Spider-Man: Homecoming, which featured appearances from the MCU’s Iron Man and Captain America. After a deal was made between Sony and Marvel Studios to share Spider-Man, fans hoped Marvel and Fox could work out a similar deal to allow for the X-Men and Fantastic Four to join the Avengers on the big screen. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has repeatedly reaffirmed that while fans should never say never, the chances of it happening seemed — and continue to be — slim. Or, are they? Notably, Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s assets doesn’t include the FOX broadcast network, as a company cannot legally own two broadcast networks, and Disney already owns ABC. Marvel Studios recently celebrated $5 billion at the domestic office after Thor: Ragnarok earned an astounding $121 million from its opening weekend stateside. Up next for the entertainment giant is Black Panther.
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Nov 10, 2017 16:19:50 GMT -6
www.newsarama.com/37311-disney-fox-deal-still-on-the-table.htmlDISNEY/FOX Deal Still on the Table - Report CNBC is following their previous report that Disney had been in talks with 21st Century Fox to buy a significant portion of the latter conglomerate's media assets with a new story which asserts that the deal is still on the table. After CNBC's initial report, Bloomberg wrote that the talks had stalled and that the deal was no longer a possibility. CNBC's new report directly contradicts Bloomberg, quoting its own Jason Faber as saying that though negotiations had stalled, "it does appear at the very least that [Disney and 21st Century Fox] have not abandoned the idea of that combination." "Pencils aren't down on the deal," he added. Should Disney purchase 21st Century Fox's assets, the deal would reportedly include the 20th Century Fox movie studio, who control the movie rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four. This could potentially allow Marvel to bring the characters of those franchise into their interconnected film universe.
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Nov 10, 2017 17:03:32 GMT -6
www.bleedingcool.com/2017/11/10/rob-liefeld-fox-rethink-disney-sale/Rob Liefeld Urges Fox To Rethink Disney Sale Because Deadpool And X-Force Are Their Star Wars Posted by Jude Terror November 10, 2017 Earlier this week, it was reported that Disney was in talks to potentially purchase most of 21st Century Fox, excluding their news and sports divisions but including their movie divisions, including the parts that make movies based on Marvel Comics characters The X-Men and The Fantastic Four. Those talks were described as on again, off again, and they’re currently off… but the fact that someone leaked their existence could very likely be one side trying to put some pressure on the other to restart them. In any case, while the deal might not be happening, superstar creator and living legend Sir Robert Liefeld took to Instagram to reassure Fox that they don’t need to sell when they’ve got movies based on the work of Rob Liefeld in the pipeline. Dear Ruper, (Hi James, Hi Lachlan), It’s your buddy Rob. Wait on any further talks until Deadpool 2 opens and does a billion. And X-Force! This is your Star Wars franchise and you’ve only scratched the surface. Everyone on the film side has kicked it into overdrive. Watch that portfolio grow! All the best, Rob Liefeld It’s true, Fox has hit the Liefeld lottery once before with the first Deadpool film, based on the character created by Liefeld. If they hit it again with Deadpool 2 and once more with X-Force, it could be Fox buying Disney in the next few years. It would behoove Fox to listen to Liefeld’s advice. http://instagram.com/p/BbNCfOwlMb7
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Nov 29, 2017 18:38:50 GMT -6
www.cbr.com/disney-fox-deal-back-on/RUMOR: Disney, Fox Deal Back On and Moving Fast Disney and Fox’s talks appear to be back underway and moving fast. According to Deadline‘s Mike Fleming, Disney is “progressing speedily” towards an acquisition of Fox. This, of course, would give the studio rights to everything on the film side, while the Murdoch family will continue to maintain ownership over the sports and news divisions, as noted in the original report. “I just want to start with a juicy rumor that is fast gaining steam in town today, that Disney is progressing speedily toward that rumored acquisition of Fox. The version I heard has the Murdoch clan keeping possession of sports and news properties, and the rest of TV and the film studio going to Disney,” Fleming explained. Fleming believes that, should it take, Disney’s deal will be made much like the deal with Lucasfilm was: under a cone of silence. This would suggest that, rather than continuing to follow a stream of rumors concerning a possible deal, Disney and 21st Century Fox would only make the deal known once it is complete. Recently, it was revealed that Sony Entertainment, rather than Sony Pictures, had shown interest in purchasing 21st Century Fox along with a few other companies, including Comcast and Verizon. However, it appears that talks have since reverted to Disney. As we’ve seen in the past, these talks can change at a moment’s notice, meaning nothing is set in stone until an official announcement is made. However, as it stands, it would appear that the two studios are nearing a deal that could prove to be worrisome for Hollywood but exciting for fans that have been eager to see both the Fantastic Four and X-Men within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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