Well, that was fast. Forget those dreams of young Han Solo landing on a planet of xenomorphs and looking for unobtanium. Disney‘s talks with Fox to buy the movie studio and some other major assets is already over.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the potential blockbuster deal fell apart after the two sides couldn’t agree on deal points, and basically, how much money should change hands. It’s a bit of a bummer for Disney, who lets the original “Star Wars” trilogy and the prequels slip through their fingers, not to mention “Avatar,” which is getting the theme park treatment from the company. And sorry kids, it means the X-Men are still out of Marvel‘s hands. But it leaves Fox with a whole bunch of valuable assets they clearly want to offload — at the right price — and I’d wager there will be some of the big hitters thinking about a making an offer. It’s a bit interesting that Fox is ready to get out of the movie business, but given the uncertainty of the landscape — with the rise of streaming, and shrinking VOD windows — perhaps they see the writing on the wall.
Either way, both companies saw their stocks get a little boost with the news that such a deal was even under consideration — with Fox getting a 5% bump, and Disney 1% — so it’s a short-term gain. Clearly, Disney is ready to spend big on some strategic purchases to grow their already huge company, into a more mammoth size. Maybe they’ll circle back and knock on Netflix’s door?
There are multiple reports indicating that the talks have stalled and started repeatedly for an extended period of time. It’s premature to declare them definitively “over” on the basis of the WSJ story.
This info is bias since the WSJ belongs to Rupert Murdoch. What they are trying to do is to get Disney to agree on a higher bid, and figure out a way to get control of Sky TV in the UK.
I wouldn’t be surprised if these talks are news again in the next few weeks, specially after the Hollywood Reporter article news that Murdoch’s sudden impulse to sell the film + tv assets was due to one of their key financiers’ assets being frozen after getting arrested weeks ago for collaborating with Islamic Terrorist Groups.
Right now, whoever got cash is king at Fox.