In a huge year for Disney releases, the biggest development that these next twelve months will bring for the company isn’t any highly anticipated franchise installment or even the launch of the new Disney Plus streaming service but the the acquisition of Fox, which a new report from Variety suggests could be finalized within the next two months.
The recent article observes how Disney has agreed to sell off 22 of its regional sports assets in order to clear regulatory approval for the $71.3 billion transaction. The conglomerate is also not buying Fox News and the FOX network, which will remain part of Rupert Murdoch’s New Fox, and in the new Variety piece, it’s reported that Fox “does not intend” to bid on these 22 assets, despite previous speculation.
In any case, it’s said that the lane should be clear for the transaction to close by “early March,” meaning that upcoming releases like X-Men: Dark Phoenix will be released under the Disney banner.
Needless to say, the deal the should bring some big changes to the entertainment we consume, and for Marvel fans in particular, you can expect the effects of the acquisition to be all too visible in the near future. Last September, it was confirmed that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige will take charge of Disney’s new superhero acquisitions, including the X-Men and Fantastic Four, and it was even reported a few weeks ago that the company may begin developing projects for these characters within the first half of 2019.
But regardless of which properties Disney brings to our screens in these next few years, and which ultimately suffer under the new ownership, we should all brace ourselves for some big announcements in the coming months.
