Well, that’s it then. In a huge move towards dominating the content game, Disney has confirmed it has reached a deal to buy most of the assets of Rupert Murdoch‘s 21st Century Fox for roughly $52.4 billion.
That is a massive deal, and is likely driven by Disney’s desire to hit back at the tech giants like Netflix and Amazon who have been muscling their way into the entertainment space. By scooping up 21st Century Fox’s large library of content, Disney puts themselves in a very strong position to release their own streaming service.
The agreement could still be blocked by antitrust regulators – and the Justice Department in the U.S. have blocked similar moves in the part to prevent anticompetitive markets.
“We’re honoured and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building,” Disney’s CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.
The deal reportedly does not include a number of Fox properties, such as Fox News, the Fox broadcast network and the FS1 sports network. It does include the Fox television studios, which produces shows like The Simpsons, Homeland, This Is Us, and Modern Family. Disney will also score the FX and National Geographic cable networks.
The 20th Century Fox studios will be downsized, with much of its production capacity being folded into Disney’s or refocused towards smaller productions intended for digital distribution – like on a new Disney streaming service, for example.
Marvel fans will be happy to know that this brings the X-Men back into the hands of Marvel Studios, meaning that it’s almost guaranteed (if it goes through) that we’ll be seeing mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Make no mistake – this is huge, and will send shockwaves through the film and television industry. Looks like the world of streaming is about to heat the hell up.
