Now that Disney has acquired Lucas films...

[YoungPrime]

Originally Posted by kaijunexus

Exactly!

If Disney WERE to buy back X-Men and Fantastic Four from Fox, I imagine it would be for something like 400 to 500 million. Definitely nowhere even near a billion.

Which would still be more than what they'd get in domestic box office returns if they released a F4 reboot in 2015.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Baramos

So you're saying Disney paid 4 billion dollars for Star Wars and its various franchising rights in order to...break even? Not to make a profit? That would be pretty stupid business management, wouldn't it? I assume they will be making something like 20-30 billion dollars with Star Wars over the next few decades.

It was worth 4 billion dollars to George Lucas. He doubled his net worth instantly. He's getting old and looking to retire from big film making and make personal projects. That's why he sold Star Wars for significantly less than the franchise is worth. That's why I doubt Disney could repeat the same thing with these two franchises for only 4 billion dollars: they're worth more than 4 billion dollars to Fox.

Disney spent 4 billion to acquire the entire Marvel company; what makes you think that the film rights of X-Men and FF would worth the same as Marvel? And despite how well-received FC was, it still made less than X2 & X3, and FF's two movies have had rather disappointing box office returns, and Fox just wanted to reboot the franchise rather than making a third. To suggest that these two alone would worth 4 billion is rather ludacrous.

[Spider‐Man]

Disney needs to get the FF rights so they can have Doom and Darth fighting in a movie!

[Dark Raven]

Or at least Darth can teach Doom how to be a good movie villain. Well, only really Julian McMahon needs lessons. I imagine if Marvel got hold of Doom he won't be anything like that.

[Baramos]

Hmm, well what number do you think that Fox would agree upon, then? If even 400 million is too much for Disney to pay for them, it will be tricky to figure out a number that Fox likes and Disney likes as well. I guess they'll have to figure out a number that both studios would like.

When do the rights revert back, anyway?

[SoNicRaDiATioN]

When Fox no longer chooses to make X-Films, which I hope isn't for awhile.

[Bruce Malone]

Regardless of what the actual value of the x-men or ff are if disney tries to buy them right now fox will likely greatly over charge disney just to hurt them as they are competitors.

FOX would rather let properties like DD and FF sit in the cellar for years then let disney have a go at them.

[SoNicRaDiATioN]

DD has already reverted back to Disney. And I doubt it'll see the light of day for about a decade sadly.

[Bruce Malone]

Not to my knowledge it hasn't. I know fox just cancelled a reboot but i think they have control of it.

As long as they keep proposing that they will bring the character back on screen, they can hold on to it it seems.

[SoNicRaDiATioN]

My understanding is that Fox had until Oct.10 to get the ball rolling on a new film. They didn't so the right's reverted to Disney.

[Bruce Malone]

I don't know that might have been the assumption but it would have made the news had marvel officially gotten the rights to dd back.

There are so many loopholes in these agreements that's it possible fox found another way to hold on.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Bruce Malone

I don't know that might have been the assumption but it would have made the news had marvel officially gotten the rights to dd back.

There are so many loopholes in these agreements that's it possible fox found another way to hold on.

There was a major discussion about it when DD's rights were about to expire, in DD's forum and some other. Basically, like SoNicRaDiATioN said the rights expired on Oct. 10th, and some insider revealed that Marvel had tried to negotiate to obtain the rights for both Silver Surfer and Galactus in exchange for letting Fox extending the deadline of the DD rights, which Fox had refused, so it is assumed that Marvel has gotten the rights back once the deadline passed.

I'm not sure why there isn't a huge news announcement about it, but it seems like when it comes to deals like this, they like to keep it discreet and secretive, that's why there's still some rampant speculations about the longetivity of those rights Marvel sold to studios like Sony and Fox.

[Chewy]

The properties reverting have never made the news, it's usually just Kevin Feige at comic con saying "we got (such-and-such) back a few months ago".

[Intouch]

Now that Disney has acquired Lucas films... i think we will have the howard the duck blu ray real soon

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

& LOL @ Joe Quesada

[Dark Raven]

Originally Posted by Intouch

Now that Disney has acquired Lucas films... i think we will have the howard the duck blu ray real soon

VIDEO-CLick to Watch!:

& LOL @ Joe Quesada

Oh, how about Howard the Duck and Donald Duck teaming up now?

I'm sure though that Disney could put out a better Howard the Duck movie since they must've perfected the duck, rather than these quack special effects people who made Howard's movie.

[xeno000]

Originally Posted by Dark Raven

Oh, how about Howard the Duck and Donald Duck teaming up now?

I'm sure though that Disney could put out a better Howard the Duck movie since they must've perfected the duck, rather than these quack special effects people who made Howard's movie.

Those "quacks" were George Lucas and Lucasfilms.


I loved the comic book but avoided the movie like the plague that it was. Funny thing is, Disney successfully sued Marvel claiming that there were too many similarities between Howard the Duck and Donald. It was a ludicrous lawsuit but the Mouse won. Howard was forced to don pants in an hilarious issue that parodied Disney's stupidity. I never thought I'd see the day when Howard and Donald served the same master (or Skywalker, for that matter).

[Spider‐Man]

Originally Posted by Bruce Malone

Not to my knowledge it hasn't. I know fox just cancelled a reboot but i think they have control of it.

As long as they keep proposing that they will bring the character back on screen, they can hold on to it it seems.

DD rights back at Marvel.

[KangConquers]

Originally Posted by Raiden

Disney spent 4 billion to acquire the entire Marvel company; what makes you think that the film rights of X-Men and FF would worth the same as Marvel? And despite how well-received FC was, it still made less than X2 & X3, and FF's two movies have had rather disappointing box office returns, and Fox just wanted to reboot the franchise rather than making a third. To suggest that these two alone would worth 4 billion is rather ludacrous.

Co-sign. Spending even $1 Billion Dollars for two mid-tier film franchises (Yes, I referred to the X-Men franchise as mid-tier. cope) would be a poor business move.

[xeno000]

Originally Posted by KangConquers

Co-sign. Spending even $1 Billion Dollars for two mid-tier film franchises (Yes, I referred to the X-Men franchise as mid-tier. cope) would be a poor business move.

The X franchise has produced five films, none of which has grossed higher than $459 million worldwide. That is definitely mid-tier. If the franchise were being handled properly it would be grossing far more than that after a dozen years and so many installments.

[KangConquers]

Originally Posted by xeno000

The X franchise has produced five films, none of which has grossed higher than $459 million worldwide. That is definitely mid-tier. If the franchise were being handled properly it would be grossing far more than that after a dozen years and so many installments.

While I refuse to believe something like making Ice Man a teenager, or centering the films around Wolverine destroyed the franchise, I do believe diminishing returns after the first two films kept it out of the 500 M+ range.

We're probably going to see each marvel phase 2 sequel break $500 M, something that no X-film has managed to do. I think that shows a bit of failure on Fox's part.

[xeno000]

Originally Posted by KangConquers

While I refuse to believe something like making Ice Man a teenager, or centering the films around Wolverine destroyed the franchise, I do believe diminishing returns after the first two films kept it out of the 500 M+ range.

We're probably going to see each marvel phase 2 sequel break $500 M, something that no X-film has managed to do. I think that shows a bit of failure on Fox's part.

The changes made to the characters' ages and backgrounds weren't too problematic, in my opinion, but other alterations definitely held the series back from realizing its potential. Specifically, depowering the mutants and limiting how much they used what little powers they were allowed was a major failing. Fox's budgetary concerns kept the number of FX shots to a minimum, which had a big effect on the action in the films.


They grounded Storm, whose powers should have looked magnificent on screen. She should have been whipping up hurricanes rather than frying toads with a little electricity. Rogue had no powers to speak of -- they never even tried to give her an alternate source for the powers she stole from Ms. Marvel in the comics. Phoenix was a total waste; no firebird silhouette or dazzling displays of raw energy for her. The one character who had a truly great sequence was Nightcrawler. And they never used the team's greatest foes, the Sentinels, except in a throwaway scene, which was a criminal lapse.


The X films simply never lived up to the potential for epic action inherent in the comics, and that held them back at the box office, IMO.

[DrCosmic]

The X films also never lived up to the relationships and team dynamics that made the comics what they are, that held them back from the box office.

[KangConquers]

The average viewer isn't aware of the dynamic shifts though. No one went "God, That Wolverine is too handsome!" or "That Rogue is too young!" Except for the comic buyers who maybe made up 1% of the film's audience.

To answer the original question? The purchase of Lucasfilms makes Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic 4 less essential to Disney's portfolio than they have ever been. Between Star Wars, possible Indiana Jones films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Pixar, Disney has a slate of tent poles for the next 5 years.

[YoungPrime]

Originally Posted by KangConquers

The average viewer isn't aware of the dynamic shifts though. No one went "God, That Wolverine is too handsome!" or "That Rogue is too young!" Except for the comic buyers who maybe made up 1% of the film's audience.

To answer the original question? The purchase of Lucasfilms makes Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic 4 less essential to Disney's portfolio than they have ever been. Between Star Wars, possible Indiana Jones films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Pixar, Disney has a slate of tent poles for the next 5 years.

We've spoke on this before. I wasn't a comic book reader when this film came out but I did watch the cartoon on Fox Kids in the 90's just like millions of other people so trust me, the GA can tell the difference between a 5'3 Wolverine and 6ft Hugh Jackman. It wasn't just comic book fans.

[xeno000]

Originally Posted by YoungPrime

We've spoke on this before. I wasn't a comic book reader when this film came out but I did watch the cartoon on Fox Kids in the 90's just like millions of other people so trust me, the GA can tell the difference between a 5'3 Wolverine and 6ft Hugh Jackman. It wasn't just comic book fans.

It's not realistic to expect the studios to find actors who can conform to the extreme physical characteristics of some of these roles. It would be all but impossible to find an actor as short as Wolverine, or even close to his height, who is also muscular and capable of playing an action hero. I know a body builder who is my height (5'4") but even at his most ripped he couldn't have pulled off the Logan look from the comics. It's an extreme body type that simply isn't easy or perhaps even possible to approximate in reality.


Considering how much derision shorter actors face from fans, I wonder how well an extremely short man playing such a prominent role would be perceived by the public. Any actor under 6 feet tall comes in for a lot of ridicule on fan forums, as do a few who are over 6 feet but still deemed not tall enough. It's a near certainty that if they had found a short, musclebound man to play Wolverine there would have been some whining about his height, too.