There’s always a bigger fish. Well, that’s what I thought until I heard that Disney’s buying out Fox. In this case, there’s always an equally sized, more ambitious fish. If the news of the takeover came as a shock to you don’t worry, it surprised everybody. What’s weirder is that Fox was doing really well. They had creative control of blockbuster franchises like Planet of the Apes and X-Men. They were also able to balance those out with the Oscar winners like Slumdog Millionaire, Birdman and the Shape of Water. Considering all this, it’s evident Disney has a firm, near-monopolistic grip on the entertainment industry of today, fueling media consolidation in an increasingly downward spiral, and that’s worrying.
So how could this deal change the film environment? Well for starters, Disney who already owned some of the most financially rewarding franchises in Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, now also owns the aforementioned blockbusters. Another big win for Disney is the upcoming release of not one, not two, but FIVE new Avatar films. Yes, that Avatar- the highest grossing film of all time. Just imagine five more multi-billion dollar projects all lined up for Disney.
One of the things I find most worrying is that 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight were genuinely interested in making films that weren’t diluted Hollywood action-packed rubbish but more deep and emotional. However, looking at Disney’s past record, they just seem to be interested in pumping out one blockbuster after another. Granted, Disney has never made a purchase as big this one yet, so we don’t know how the events will span out, but hopefully they continue to allow creative young directors to make creative new films.
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2019 may be the last time we see an X-Men movie or a Terminator movie made by Fox. Soon, the famous Fox intro will be completely removed from the screens and from our minds, only to be replaced by Disney’s castle. How long before studios like Paramount, Sony and Universal crumble before Disney’s capitalistic greed? Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. What we do know for certain is that this is Fox’s last as a studio as we know it, and the best we can do is pay our respects to a studio whose films entertained us for decades.
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