Here Are the Fox Entertainment Properties Disney Gets in Merger Deal

[Hunter of the Dead, Corrupter of the Tomb, the Deadthings]

Here Are the Fox Entertainment Properties Disney Gets in Merger Deal

By Cameron Bonomolo - July 28, 2018

http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/07/28/disney-21st-century-fox-merger-properties/

Disney and Fox shareholders voted Friday to approve The Walt Disney Company’s $71.3 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox, a deal that will add numerous big-name entertainment properties to Disney’s ever-growing portfolio.

The merger will see the creation of New Fox and a separation agreement that transfers to the company assets Disney won’t be involved with, namely a portfolio of 21st Century Fox’s news, sports and broadcast businesses, including the Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports, Fox Television Stations Group, and sports cable networks FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes and the Big Ten Network.

21st Century Fox retains all media assets not transferred to New Fox, including the Twentieth Century Fox film and television studios — home to properties like Avatar and The Simpsons that will now be Disney-owned — and certain cable and international television businesses, channels like FX and FXX.

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed in December Marvel Studios is “looking forward to expanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe to include X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool,” and the door is open for future R-rated Marvel productions in the vein of Logan.

Once the deal is completed, Marvel will freely be able to integrate famed Marvel Comics characters like Wolverine and Doctor Doom into the shared MCU, already home to the mega-hit Avengers, Spider-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises.
Slide 1 of 10X-Men, Deadpool, and the Fantastic Four
X-Men

The future of Fox’s X-verse is in doubt: the long-running franchise launched in 2000 with X-Men and has since expanded to include the R-rated spinoff franchise Deadpool, itself giving way to a planned R-rated Deadpool 2 sequel-slash-spinoff X-Force.

In addition to the in-the-works X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, both releasing in 2019, Fox has long been developing Channing Tatum vehicle Gambit. It was learned in November Spider-Man trilogy star James Franco is attached to headline Multiple Man and Logan director James Mangold was developing a script centered around young mutant X-23.

The long-struggling Fantastic Four property was rebooted in 2015 as Fant4stic, a critical and commercial misfire. Last summer, reports surfaced Fox was developing a new kid-friendly take on the franchise that would center around Franklin and Valeria Richards, the big-brained and super-powered children of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman.

That project stalled, as did Fox’s planned Doctor Doom solo movie: its writer, Fargo’s Noah Hawley, said a script was near-finished but had an uncertain future because of the Disney-Fox deal.

TIn July, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige insisted Marvel was not yet developing any potential X-Men or Fantastic Four movies, saying only that he has “vague dreams and vague ideas” for integrating the fan-favorite characters into his universe. The focus, Feige said, remained on a packed slate — Captain Marvel, Avengers 4, Spider-Man: Far From Home — until the Disney-Fox deal was complete and Marvel is “given the word” to move forward with those new toys.
Slide 2 of 10The Simpsons
The Simpsons

America’s favorite yellow-skinned animated family will be among the A-list properties to be owned by Disney, as the long-running ‘toon predicted 20 years ago in a 1998 episode. The longest-running American sitcom, The Simpsons heads into its 30th season to premiere on FOX September 30.

The multi-billion grossing franchise also released a big screen movie in 2007, earning over half a billion worldwide, and has since served as a staple of Universal’s domestic theme parks for a decade with a land themed to the Simpsons’ iconic hometown of Springfield.
Slide 3 of 10Avatar
Avatar

James Cameron’s Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie of all time since its release in 2009, where it earned nearly $3 billion at the worldwide box office.

The esteemed Terminator and Titanic director has since developed a sprawling saga after signing with Fox a four-movie deal to produce Avatar sequels intended to release through 2025.

The now-shooting Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 are scheduled for December 2020 and December 2021, with later sequels planned for both 2024 and 2025. Guardians of the Galaxy star Zoe Saldana returns with Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver alongside franchise newcomers Cliff Curtis and Kate Winslet.

In 2017, Disney incorporated Avatar and the world of Pandora into their theme parks at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida. 
Slide 4 of 10Family Guy, American Dad!, King of the Hill, Bob’s Burgers
Family Guy

Disney will come to own Fox Television Animation, producers behind Seth MacFarlane’s irreverent long-running adult animated series Family Guy as well as MacFarlane’s American Dad!

The network is also home to the fan-favorite Bob’s Burgers and King of the Hill. Fox Television Group chairman and CEO Dana Walden revealed last August the network was in “preliminary conversations” with creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels concerning a potential revival.
Slide 5 of 10Alien and Predator
Alien vs Predator
(Photo: FOX)

Fox has long served as producers and distributors on both the Alien and Predator franchises, first established in 1979 and 1987, respectively.

Following two Alien franchise revivals in 2012 and 2017 with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Fox resurrects The Predator this September under writer-director Shane Black (Iron Man 3).

Disney previously acquired the Alien theme park rights when then-CEO Michael Eisner intended to bring the R-rated sci-fi franchise to Disney’s family-friendly theme parks. Though Disney later incorporated the horrific ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter at Walt Disney World, the project did not adapt Ridley Scott’s 1979 film. Disney did, however, include a scene from Alien in the since-closed Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Slide 6 of 10The X-Files, American Horror Story, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
IASIP

Other more adult fare offered by both FOX and FX include The X-Files, American Horror Story, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Disney isn’t a stranger to owning or producing adult fare: less than 20 years after the death of studio founder Walt Disney, the company — under Eisner — established the Touchstone Films label to produce films aimed towards more mature audiences, films the more family-oriented Walt Disney Pictures otherwise couldn’t release.

The practice was first initiated with 1984’s Splash, and the banner saw the release of R-rated box office hits Pretty Woman, Enemy of the State, and Con Air, and PG-13 hits Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Signs, and The Proposal.

Disney similarly once owned and operated grown-up labels Hollywood Pictures, Miramax, and Dimension.
Slide 7 of 10Ice Age, Rio, and Blue Sky Studios
Blue Sky Studios

CG-centric animation arm Blue Sky Studios has operated under the 20th Century Fox banner for more than two decades, producing such animated hits as the Ice Age and Rio franchises, as well as The Peanuts Movie and John Cena-starrer Ferdinand.

Disney famously operates their well-known animation studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, which have produced seven of the top ten highest-grossing animated films of all time. The company recently shuttered Disneytoon Studios, the production house responsible for the Tinker Bell and Planes movies.
Slide 8 of 10Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, The Sound of Music
Home Alone
(Photo: FOX)

In addition to classic Julie Andrews musical The Sound of Music, Disney will lay claim to seminal holiday classics Miracle on 34th Street and Home Alone. More recently, Fox has produced such hits as the Kingsman franchise, the Hugh Jackman-led The Greatest Showman, The Martian, and the Taken trilogy.
Slide 9 of 10Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes

Disney gets another blockbuster heavy hitter in the form of the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise, which released three installments between 2011 and 2017. All critically acclaimed and financial successes, Matt Reeves’ War for the Planet of the Apes closed the door on the trilogy — but left an ending open for future installments.   
Slide 10 of 10Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fox Searchlight Pictures
(Photo: FOX)

Disney is expected to leave indie house producers Fox Searchlight Pictures alone, Iger said in March.
21comments

“We have every intention once the acquisition is approved to maintain the business of Fox Searchlight,” Iger  told Disney shareholders during an Annual Meeting in March. “We think they’re in the business of making high quality films.”

Among Fox Searchlight’s acclaimed filmography are such Best Picture winners Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman, and The Shape of Water, as well as Academy Award-nominees Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, Black Swan, 127 Hours, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Brooklyn, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

[Hunter of the Dead, Corrupter of the Tomb, the Deadthings]

Every Major Character Returning To The MCU Due To Fox/Disney Deal
By Matt Joseph @wgtc_site 11 hours ago
Sorry, the video player failed to load.(Error Code: 100001)

It’s probably, finally, going to happen.

After months of will they/won’t they debates, a bidding war with the deep-pocketed Comcast and some worries over the mind-boggling amounts of money involved, The Walt Disney Company is finally about to complete their purchase of 21st Century Fox and all its yummy mutant flavored intellectual property.

The most eye-catching result, of course, will be the X-Men making their debut in the MCU. How this will happen remains anyone’s guess, though my money’s on Disney completely recasting the roles and putting a new spin on favorites like Magneto, Wolverine and Cyclops in order to slot them neatly into the existing cinematic universe.

Chalk that up as speculation for now, and it should be noted that this potentially historic merger is still subject to regulatory approval, so Disney isn’t across the finish line just yet, but that doesn’t mean fans can’t start thinking about all the great characters who are now headed home. And that’s exactly what the folks at ComicBookMovie.com have done, as they’ve put together the below list of every major hero/villain who’s set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to the Disney/Fox deal.

Without further ado, here’s who you can look forward to seeing:

    Wolverine
    Doctor Doom
    Annihilus
    The Sentinels
    Mole Man
    Magneto
    Super-Skrulls
    Deadpool
    Sabretooth
    Galactus
    Silver Surfer
    Mr. Sinister
    Franklin And Valeria Richards
    The Juggernaut
    The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
    Namor the Sub-Mariner
    H.E.R.B.I.E.
    Apocalypse
    Kang the Conquerer
    The X-Men
    The Fantastic Four

The X-Men, Avengers And Deadpool Unite On Epic New Poster
1 of 4
 

Prev
Next

It makes for quite an exhaustive list, eh? And again, those are only the major characters. Aside from them, there’s also a ton of supporting players who’ll be making the trip over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, too. As exciting as it may be though to start imagining all the possibilities now that these folks will be returning home, don’t expect to see any of them popping up just yet.

Kevin Feige’s already gone on record – numerous times, mind you – to state that no plans have been made for the Fox characters to start appearing in the MCU and things won’t really be set into motion until the Fox/Disney deal is 100% signed, sealed and delivered. Which, as of now, it’s not.

Still, there’s very little chance it’ll fall through at this stage and we’d imagine that by the end of Phase 4, we’ll start seeing some seeds planted for the arrival of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and all these other great properties that are now on their way back home.


http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/every-major-character-returning-mcu-due-foxdisney-deal/

[Hunter of the Dead, Corrupter of the Tomb, the Deadthings]

[Behold, I am Death, Destroyer of Worlds]

 


   

 Billionaires   














 
Innovation   




















 
Leadership   













 
Money   














 
Consumer   







 
Industry   







 
Lifestyle   










 
 Featured 









 
 BrandVoice 














 

 
 

 
 
 


 
 
 
What The Disney-Fox Deal Means For 'Avatar' And 'Star Wars'


 
  Scott Mendelson 

   Scott Mendelson    Contributor   i   

 Jul 30, 2018, 11:00am   •#BoxOffice   
     
   
    
  
  
 







'Avatar'20th Century Fox

As you know, Walt Disney’s shareholders have voted to purchase Fox (save for Fox Sports and Fox News) for around $71.3 billion. There are many reasons to be… concerned about the deal, not the least of which being that the folks behind Fox News now have another $71 billion to play with. While it presumably won’t get finalized until the middle of 2019, I did want to take a moment to discuss how the planned purchase/merger affects Disney’s two biggest singular cinematic franchises. I’m speaking, of course, about Star Wars and Avatar.

Star Wars and Avatar were both originally 20th Century Fox properties. Both now fall under the umbrella of The Mouse House. As noted before, Disney’s current regime is better at taking established cinematic brands and making them bigger as opposed to creating their own big live-action flicks. They bought Marvel for $4 billion in late 2009 and helped turn the MCU into a defining powerhouse only after Paramount/Viacom Inc. successfully sold Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. They capitalized on decades of Star Wars fandom by buying Lucasfilm for $4 billion in late 2012.

That’s bad news for Disney’s attempts to create their own home-grown biggies outside of the “live-action adaptation of an animated biggie” sub-genre, but it’s good news for Avatar. To the extent that pundits and bloggers roll their eyes at the notion of James Cameron crafting four Avatar sequels, or that everyone claims that no one remembers or cares about Pandora, well, that’s where Disney comes in. Presuming that this all comes to pass, you can be darn sure that Disney will spend the next two years getting folks pumped for another Avatar.



They’ve already been laying the groundwork since mid-2017 with Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney World. Like Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction or Disney’s Cars Land. It’s a mix between an immersive “live inside your favorite movie” universe (where folks essentially walk about Pandora) and the usual “ride a ride based upon the property” cash-in. The key ride, “Flight of Passage,” is a thrilling bit of vertigo-inducing adventure that also doubles as a tutorial for the franchise, specifically explaining the whole “How does a human merge with their Na’vi Avatar?” thing.

There is plenty to appreciate in Disney’s Pandora, including a boat ride, street entertainment and a lack of Disney-specific logos so as to sell the illusion. There’s (of course) a gift shop too. That’s where the Disney merchandising machine will come in. If the deal goes through, you can expect to see Avatar merchandise, especially the interactive banshee toy that was the hot-ticket item when we visited in mid-January, popping up at Disney Stores nationwide. If Avatar becomes a Disney property, they will make sure folks are aware of and interested in the world of Pandora.


My kids had never seen Avatar. After an hour or so at Pandora, they A) wanted a Banshee toy and B) wanted to watch Avatar. So, I showed them James Cameron’s 2009 mega-smash. My six-year-old and my ten-year-old, who aren’t exactly pop culture junkies, sat enraptured for the entire 2.5-hour running time. So did I, as the movie holds up, in 2D 1080p on a 75-inch TV no less, as a splendid big-screen entertainment. The dialogue isn’t quirky and the plotting isn’t original, but the movie still works like gangbusters. It’s still a damn good movie.

Despite (or because of) its lack of conventional action violence until the third act, it holds up as a beautiful travelogue of this wholly unique cinematic universe. Its ahead-of-its-time notions of informed consent (Sam Worthington’s Jake makes a point to let Zoe Saldana “choose him” while later asking the Na’vi for permission before delivering his big speech) help it avoid some “white savior” tropes. It still holds up as a potent and primal adventure about indigenous people fighting off invasion and genocide with the help of an invader who switches sides.

The third act action finale still offers plenty of sky-high thrills and down-and-dirty fighting. Whether or not James Cameron’s 3D adventure “deserved” to be the biggest-grossing movie of all time (by a lot), it’s still a damn good movie.  And if marketing and promoting Avatar 2 becomes Disney’s responsibility, you can be sure that they’ll be reminding folks about how much they liked that first film before it became “uncool.” They’ll use the merchandise and their TV outlets to (re)introduce today’s kids to the biggest movie of all time while explaining the mythology for newbies.

I imagine they’ll offer a 3D/IMAX reissue of the first Avatar, ideally in the summer of 2020 (since December of 2019 is way too crowded) to allow folks to rediscover the first film or see it for the first time as intended. So if you’ve never seen Avatar, you might want to wait a couple of years so you can see it as intended. A key part to selling Avatar 2 is reminding folks that, yes, Avatar really was a rock-solid popcorn entertainment. All of this works if James Cameron’s Avatar 2 delivers.

I’m sure this second film will do fine (especially overseas, where Avatar earned $2 billion in foreign box office alone) off the lingering popularity of the first film and the still-potent appeal of “never seen anything like this” big-screen spectacle. But if it’s not good, then that’s a problem for the next three sequels. That part may be out of Disney’s hands, but it is in their interest that Cameron’s Avatar series be sea-worthy. Because if Avatar 2 delivers, it takes a lot of pressure off the rest of Disney’s big-ticket brands, especially the Star Wars saga.

Right now, there are no officially scheduled Star Wars movies after Episode IX in December of 2019. And while I’m sure there will be more Star Wars flicks, Disney and Lucasfilm will be at an impasse after the end of the Skywalker/Solo saga. Will folks still care about Star Wars without the explicit connections to the nine “episodic” Star Wars stories? Will Star Wars without Luke, Leia, Han, Yoda, Ben and Anakin mean anything to general audiences, or will it just play like Dune or Jupiter Ascending with “Star Wars” slapped on it?

I don’t know the answer. But I do know that Disney would prefer not to have to deliver on their “a new Star Wars movie every year” that necessitated the Star Wars Story spin-offs. Avatar 2, Avatar 3, Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are currently slotted for December of 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. A little musical chairs could easily create a scenario where every Christmas offers either a Star Wars “episode” or an Avatar sequel. Disney can do Star Wars for 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025 while Avatar goes 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2026.

This creates less of a burden for Star Wars since it won’t be carrying as much of the blockbuster weight on its own shoulders. It’ll give Lucasfilm the breathing room to figure out what they want to do after Episode IX ends the Skywalker/Solo saga that has thus far defined the property. A Star Wars movie every two years, as opposed to every year, will increase the likelihood that they will remain event movies, especially if they are positioned as Christmas events alongside the next four Avatar sequels. A vibrant Avatar franchise is good for Star Wars.

So, yes, I fully expect Disney to use their brand and their power to make sure that Avatar 2 dominates the 2020 holiday season (and beyond). Heck, if they could get Tron: Legacy to $400 million worldwide back in 2010, then they should be able to remind audiences why they loved Cameron’s action fantasy in the first place. And even while we fret about the coming entertainment monopoly, there will be worst things than Star Wars and Avatar, the two defining “cinema first” franchises dominating the holiday season for the next eight years.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/07/30/what-the-disney-fox-deal-means-for-avatar-and-star-wars/