The Disney-Fox purchase is set to be concluded on the 20th of March.
Ever since it was announced last year that Disney was going to buy 20th Century Fox, a lot of people have been stating that this was a terrible thing to happen to the entertainment industry, but the truth is, it isn’t.
Whilst Disney owning more of the market isn’t the best thing in the world, Disney do know how to manage their properties and they know how to consistently produce good content and release it to the world.
One of the big stories coming out of this purchase is the fact that Marvel Studios (also owned by Disney) will now have access to the characters from the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, something they haven’t been able to have up until this purchase became possible. And to prove how well Disney can make content, you only have to look at the comparison between Fox’s attempts with the X-Men and Fantastic Four and then Marvel Studios attempts with the MCU, one has done considerably better than the other. This can only show that Disney knows how to manage its properties and how to make sure that only good content it released.
Another factor as to why this purchase isn’t terrible is the fact that Disney, themselves, have said that Fox will continue as it is under its own banner and won’t just be absorbed by the Disney companies. This means that Fox’s movie studio will continue as it is and the development of its films will continue unchanged, this being something that many people were worried about. This now means that Fox will continue to make their own movies under their own banner, including films like Avatar, Kingsman and Alien. This factor will also mean that the jobs that were at risk before the purchase will now be a lot more stable.
However, a lot of people will point to the acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise as to proof that Disney might mishandle certain properties and studios. And yes, while Disney did go too fast with the Star Wars franchise and make some mis-steps (making The Last Jedi if you believe some of the fanbase), Disney did rejuvenate the Star Wars Universe and it is now bigger and more popular than it ever was before and will now even have its own theme park opening at Disneyland and Walt Disney World (something you can find more about here)
Whilst there is no way to know for sure how this purchase will affect the future landscape of the industry, at the moment Disney has stated that nothing at Fox will change (except for the Marvel characters) and that things will continue as they had done before, the only difference being that Disney will now be getting more income. Similarly, with Disney getting more income, Fox will now have the financial backing of the Disney Company meaning they should be able to create higher quality products and create even better films than before.