The Disney/Fox Deal: Questions and Consequences

Fox News is nowhere near dead. And the rate of advertisers leaving them has slowed over the past year and a half.

It's a matter of time if you ask me.

Well, anyway!

Were you underwhelmed by Alien: Covenant? Were you convinced its iffy reception and middling box office performance killed the potential for any new (and better) Alien movies?

Yes?

Fret not, because in light of Disney buying Fox, Alien was namechecked at Disney's CinemaCon presentation as still having life as a franchise.

(No word on Predator though, so put a pin on any chance of retrying Alien vs. Predator.)

Fox had already spent the last few months promoting the first film's 40th anniversary, so it only makes sense that they'd keep it alive.

I find it funny that Michael Eisner was obsessed with Alien and always looked to obtain the license.

I think that Disney will franchise the sh... out of everything which could work as a franchise (which is frankly less than one might think), and that naturally includes Alien. Though I guess it might be time for a proper reboot.

I honestly think the problem with the new Alien movies is Ridley Scott. Both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant tried to do something different, which I applaud, but...neither quite congealed into working. There are moments that work, but then there are moments when the characters act like complete and utter idiots. (Yes, touch the alien snake thing, why don't you, that's not a bad idea.) He also included way too much Michael Fassbender in Covenant (yes, I know, there is a limit to how much Fassbender you can take).

If they got a new director and decided to start a brand-new trilogy, I think that might work really well. Because, essentially, the Alien movies are just horror movies set in space (well, Aliens switched over to the war genre, but it was also horror). And that should be easy to strip back and start over with.

Ooh, I'd love to see Jordan Peele do an Alien film.

Kind of ironic that they get the rights to the Alien franchise after they got rid of The Great Movie Ride which included the Alien.

I thought I was onto something with Jordan Peele doing a movie on Blade but...

...holy ship, I actually want to see him do an Alien movie now, even if it's only to see how people would take it.

I, for one, salute our new corporate overlords!

(I like the picture of Rupert Murdoch in the trash.)

S y n e r g y

Sums up Disney and Marvel quite well.

lol...well, you can't accuse Disney of not being self-aware.

Well, Disney always loves to poke fun at itself. I mean they had a Simpsons writer for their movies. Or see Enchanted for how they like to take a jab at their formula.

Quick Question:

Disney is the only major Hollywood studio to never have a Best Picture win. Does Disney own any of the Best Picture Winners that Fox did now (and what movies are they)?

The Shape of Water is one that pops into mind.

Beauty and the Beast and Up were nominated, but the academy does everything in it's power to prevent an animated picture from possibly taking home that Best Picture academy award.

Mary Poppins & Toy Story 3 as well.

Fox won Best Picture 13 times (one of which was won by Fox Films, one of the two companies that merged to become 20th Century Fox, the other being 20th Century Pictures). If you want to count them as being inherited by Walt Disney Studios because they are all legally owned by The Walt Disney Company post-Fox merger, then they are no longer the outlier.

Edited by TrashJack on Apr 12th 2019 at 3:47:39 PM

Kinda sad that, of all the classic Fox shows they could have put on the service, Batman (1966) was left out in the mix. I get that there could be legal issues with that (no thanks to Warner Bros., who has home video and merch rights under license), but as far as I know Disney owns, in addition to the program itself, the syndication rights to the series, and streaming is technically a form of syndication. That's why The Gods Must Be Crazy and The Princess Bride will (presumably) be on Disney+, because Fox, who originally distributed both films theatrically, retained those rights and all syndication rights despite not owning either film and their home video rights (don't expect either film to be on international Disney+ feeds, though, as Fox's rights to both are limited to North America).

The lack of the tie-in film is even more inexcusable, as there aren't any legal issues to speak of with that.

Edited by Mario1995 on Apr 12th 2019 at 5:12:39 AM

Disney might as well just sell their remaining rights to the Adam West Batman show and movie to AT&T/WarnerMedia, to let them stream and air it wherever they want. It does nobody any good to have it all be locked down in limbo like this.

Edited by TrashJack on Apr 12th 2019 at 8:49:16 AM

Disney, selling off one of their properties?

I guess this is also owned by Disney now.

Edited by chasemaddigan on Apr 12th 2019 at 9:33:04 AM

They'll sell the rights if they can be used as a bargaining chip for something else.

Does WB still have the Clone Wars film?

Yeah, hopefully they will see it that way as well. Batman '66 does not deserve to be stuck in limbo like that, and it's not like Disney needs it.

Searchlight alone has a number of academy award nominated movies, including a few winners. I mean, that's what Disney wanted Fox in the first place, the two studios fit together well.

Though while Disney never won the the academy award for best picture specifically, it DOES have quite a collection of academy awards. Walt Disney won more academy awards than any other person (most for shorts, but there are also a couple of honorary awards), and while the animated movies have a snowball chance in hell to win best picture (especially now that they have a separate category for animation), Disney has collected a number awards in categories like "best score", "best original song", "special effects" aso...