The Powers That Be over at Disney and 21st Century Fox are scheduled for crunch talks on July 10th to decide whether the Mouse House seizes control of Fox’s entertainment assets, including the movie studio 20th Century Fox and its flagship franchises – think X-Men, Deadpool, and Fantastic Four.
The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop, confirming that Disney is hoping to counter Comcast’s “superior” all-cash bid and, essentially, sweeten the deal. In doing so, the industry giant has reportedly cobbled together its finances so that it’s able to offer “significant cash” if needed, though THR warns that Comcast still has the ability to table a competing bid before July 10th, in which case Fox may “postpone or adjourn” its stockholder meeting until a later date.
As things stand, it’s set to take place at precisely 10 am ET on July 10th at the New Amsterdam Theatre in midtown Manhattan, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on this situation as it develops.
21st Century Fox may postpone or adjourn the special meeting of its stockholders to allow reasonable additional time for the filing, mailing, dissemination and review by its stockholders of any such disclosure prior to the meeting.
Back in December, Disney emerged as the hot-tipped suitor of Fox’s media assets, after the latter company agreed to a $52.4 billion deal. It’s one that could potentially redraw the parameters of Hollywood, as the likes of Deadpool and the X-Men journey back to Marvel so that Kevin Feige and Co. could incorporate some of those big-name characters into the MCU.
But Disney isn’t home and dry yet – far from it, in fact, as we’ll have to wait until July 10th before we find out more about what is undoubtedly one of the most-talked-about mergers in recent Hollywood history.