Marvel fans may be getting an early Christmas present as Disney has been in negations to purchase Fox Studios.
The latest update is that both companies have brought on bankers to work out the fine print and crunch the numbers.
Variety reports the deal is being valued at upwards of $74 billion, and if it goes through, Disney would acquire: 20th Century Fox film and TV studio, the FX Networks, Nat Geo Channels group, 22 regional sports networks, Fox’s collection of international channels, including Star India, and its 39% stake in Sky. It’s further said that Disney may fork out an additional $20 billion to acquire the remaining stake in Sky.
Fox would keep its Fox Broadcasting Co., the 28 Fox O&O TV stations and the national Fox Sports and Fox News operations.
It’s also been said that Disney CEO Bob Iger has been spotted on the Fox Studios lot, though it’s considered a rumor for the time being.
Worthy of interest to comic book fans is that Disney would get the Fox Studios-owned Marvel characters which includes the X-Men, Deadpool, Wolverine, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Silver Surfer and all related characters.
Disney would also get the Avatar movie franchise, The Simpsons and Family Guy.
Interestingly enough, DC’s Gotham series airs on Fox, so it’s possible WB could move the show to one of their networks (The CW).
A bonus for Star Wars fans would be that since Fox Studios owns the distribution rights to the first six Star Wars movies, the films would transfer to Disney ahead of the planned 2020 date.
