The recent Disney/Fox deal is expected to be finalized by summer 2019, according to a Deadline report 21st Century Fox president Peter Rice’s recent town hall meeting with employees.
From the way Rice phrased it, the deal could actually come even sooner, meaning that we may only be a year away from its completion.
The deal, made last year, will transfer most of the company’s properties to Disney, with the exception of its new and sports departments, as well as the actual Fox Network. Shows on the latter channel are part of the deal, however (meaning that yes, incredibly, the Mouse House will soon own The Simpsons and Family Guy).
The deal cost Disney $52.4 billion and promises to really shake up the media landscape—Disney is now the definitively most powerful studio in the world, for one, while previously the “Big Six” were somewhat balanced. Many fear a monopolization of the industry could have negative effects both in the business world and on the creative output of the studio, though Disney says that it plans to at least keep up any movies currently in production.
That said, many feel the deal will be a good thing. Disney has been in a new Golden Age recently, not only for its direct properties, but with Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking of which, the Mouse House will now have distribution rights for A New Hope (which Fox owned in perpetuity), and missing Marvel properties like Fantastic Four, X-Men and Deadpool. All of them can now be added to the MCU, with some fans already hoping for early appearances in Avengers: Infinity War.
Unfortunately for such fans, these are unlikely, because again, the deal has yet to be finalized. Fox, in fact, seems to just be moving along with films that were already in production, including Deadpool 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix and New Mutants, though products that were planned but not yet started, such as Fantastic Four spin-offs about Doctor Doom or the Richards children, are currently up in the air until we know what Disney is planning.
Overall the deal is likely to have its benefits and problems, and for now we can only wait and see when it will be complete and what will happen.
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