One of the biggest business deals is going through.
Shareholders have given the go-ahead for Disney to buy 20th Century Fox’s film and television divisions.
According to reports, the shareholders of Fox did vote in favour of the acquisition. Disney will pay $71.3 billion to buy Fox’s film and tv divisions. Recently, Comcast did try to make a competing bid but chose to back down in favour of pursuing Sky network.
The Fantastic Four, X-Men and Deadpool will appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the future. This also means Disney will own the theatrical and distribution rights of all Star Wars. They will also be in control of A New Hope, as Fox held the copyright after the 2012 sale of Lucasfilm.
Other titles in Fox’s film library include the Alien, Planet of the Apes, Avatar, Die Hard, Predator, Home Alone, and Ice Age series.
There are still a few matters to be cleared, however. Before the deal goes through, Disney needs to sell 22 regional networks, as per the Department of Justice’s orders. The sale of these networks will likely take place through the remainder of 2018 and into next year.
The Wall Street Journal reveals Disney will also acquire Fox’s television library. Such titles include The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers. These shows could likely switch over to the ABC network, Hulu or FX.
Fans of Fox Searchlight will be happy. According to The Wall Street Journal, Disney will likely keep the division running, so as to provide content for Hulu streaming.
In recent years, Fox Searchlight has came up with great films like Birdman, The Revenant and The Shape of Water. All of said films won Academy Awards. Years earlier, Disney did release adult, edgy films via Miramax, so it would be great to see the company making arthouse movies again.
The deal is to be complete by 2019.
