A couple years or so from now we may be getting a Marvel Studios “X-Men: Homecoming” movie, which may actually be closer than ever to happening.
Disney and Comcast have been in a bidding war over the Fox Studios properties, which includes the X-Men, Deadpool, Wolverine, Fantastic Four, related characters, Avatar franchise, FX, National Geographic and more.
Recently, however, it’s been reported that Comcast may be giving up on trying to purchase the Fox Studios assets and are turning their attention to the Sky network, which has a big foreign audience.
Now it’s reported a “nail in the coffin” may have occurred that has put an end to Comcast bidding on Fox.
The Justice Department has appealed the AT&T purchase of Time Warner, as a Federal judge recently gave it the go ahead, but since the appeal was filed, it is now likely to lead to Comcast being hesitant to buy Fox Studios as they could face similar legal hurtles.
What is worth mentioning is that the Justice Department already gave Disney approval to buy Fox Studios at the most recent bid of $71 billion (President Trump and Marvel Chairman Ike Perlmutter are tight, which may or may not have had something to do with it); so now the Fox shareholders simply need to approve the deal, and the X-Men are back at Marvel (the vote is set to take place July 27).
Another point worth mentioning is that Comcast has been pretty silent since Disney upped their initial $52.4 billion offer to $71.3 billion.
CNN actually has a quote from AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson who agrees that Comcast is in a tough spot to buy Fox Studios: “It probably can’t help it,” Stephenson said regarding the appeal of AT&T purchasing of Time Warner. “You’re in a situation where two entities are bidding for an asset, and this kind of action can obviously influence the outcome of those actions.”
A Wall St. analyst company also offered that it sounds like the Disney and Fox Studios purchase is a done deal.
“This is a clear gift to Disney,” MoffettNathanson said about the AT&T and Time Warner appeal. “We’ve argued all along that Fox’s board has been looking for a justifiable reason to choose Disney over Comcast. [The Justice Department appeal seems to be the] final nail in the coffin for Comcast’s Fox chase.”
