We knew it was close, but sources have confirmed that Disney and Fox Studios have closed the acquisition deal. This means X-Men’s Wolverine, Deadpool and Marvel Studio’s Avengers will be united!
It is finally happening! The acquisition news comes as good news for superhero fans. Many Marvel fans had expressed their wish of watching the X-Men universe and the current Marvel Cinematic Universe come together for some amazing collaborations. Weeks after news broke out that Walt Disney Co. was in talks with Fox to acquire their entertainment segment, 20th Century Fox, it has been confirmed that the two studios have closed the deal and could likely make the acquisition announcement sometime next week. This means Disney will officially own most of Marvel’s cinematic characters namely the Avengers, X-Men, and Deadpool, to name some, and we will follow up as soon as we know further details.
“21st Century Fox Inc., the global film and TV company controlled by the Murdoch family, would prefer to sell some assets to Walt Disney Co. because it’s a better strategic fit and presents fewer regulatory hurdles, people familiar with the matter said,” Bloomberg reported.
CNBC, as well as other new media outlets, have been reporting that Disney has held talks with the Rupert Murdoch-controlled media company, 21st Century Fox, to acquire its studio and television production assets, leaving Fox with its news and sports assets. Disney and 21st Century Fox shares jumped this as the two have been discussing an asset deal, but were not currently talking. Selling movie and television production to Disney would leave 21st Century Fox more tightly focused on news and sports. The enterprise value for the Fox assets in the Disney deal is seen as above $60 billion, according to sources.
Marvel Studios also has two major movies lined up for the coming year – Black Panther in February as well as Avengers: Infinity War in May, plus New Mutants is scheduled for April and another installment to the X-men franchise is underway, with production underway on X-Men’s Dark Phoenix Saga. This takeover/acquisition could set Disney up to become the biggest production company in the industry as if it wasn’t already one of the heaviest hitters already with Star Wars, and the Cinematic Marvel Universe. The studio already announced $5 billion box office collections this year so it is not hard to imagine how much revenue it will make through superhero movies alone next year.
