By Chris Evangelista/Dec. 12, 2017 7:23 am EST
Fleming says a “juicy rumor” that is “fast gaining steam” in Hollywood is that “Disney is progressing speedily toward that rumored acquisition of Fox. The version I heard has the Murdoch clan keeping possession of sports and news properties, and the rest of TV and the film studio going to Disney. Radio silence right now from both studios, and given how Disney made the Marvel and Lucasfilm deals under the cone of silence, if this happens we’ll probably only know it when it’s announced. It is certainly being talked about today.”
Fleming goes on to say that the reaction around Hollywood about the acquisition is not enthusiastic, due to the “uncertainty that comes with potentially reducing a major studio to content generators under the Disney silo system.” But we’ll let the industry people worry about that. What audiences care about is synergy, and ever-growing movie universes (I think?). MCU fans would love this acquisition to happen, because that would mean the X-Men franchise, which is owned by Fox, could finally cross-over with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And one of the X-Men producers is all for it.
In that recent, sprawling Vanity Fair piece about the MCU, Lauren Shuler Donner, who has produced all of the X-Men films so far, expressed interest interest in making the MCU/X-Men team-up happen. ““Well, I wish. I would love it, I would love it. But it’s not for me to say,” Donner said. That doesn’t mean you should get your hopes up, however. Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige tamped down the fire a bit by adding, “Would we like to [bring the X-Men into the MCU]? Yeah, of course. Is there any movement toward it at all? No. Same thing. Same status.”
Same status for now, but who knows what the future might bring, especially if this Disney acquisition goes through.
