The Rebooted "Keep Hope Alive" (that the rights can revert back to Marvel) Thread - - - - Part 13

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]532157[/split]

 

[Tymminator]

Thing is Disney might just be leading the way. Warners could decide to create a service that only streams Warners, etc. This could be a way to start to protect against it. That way they have a way to release legitimate content beyond just a streaming service but also have exclusive rights to the content they create or franchises they build.

Maybe I’m just nuts but I thought Warner’s was already going to do that, at the very least with their DC properties.

Warners actually has a LOT of entertainment media, more than anyone else. If they did that it would be huge.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Careful with the optimism. A new, non Disney buyer can easily say, "new management, new leadership, new refresh on the movies".

And if they really were fresh and new and willing to invest to do FF right, I might give them a chance.

But even as much as I love the FF, if I were president of the newly acquired studio, I'd do what makes sense - focus on the X-Men which can be mixed and matched and crossed over to form a rich, lush world that rivals what Marvel has built.

If it were me, I'd get whatever I could for FF from Marvel and be done with them.

The business case for focusing on the X-Men supersedes any personal attachment I have to the FF.

 

[Darth_Spock]

And this begs the question of why I should watch Punisher next week if it won't be renewed?

....I wonder if Netflix cares what you watch there if you've already paid your monthly fee.

I personally will be watching Punisher regardless of a Season 2 if Season 1 is any good.

 

[InCali]

Can't quote what Dollar wrote because the thread is closed, but

"Netflix/CBS, for example, would certainly want to keep all the licenses and produce everything in house."

If the above is true, wouldn't both have to REALLY step up the amount of money they are willing to put into a movie to bring it to the big screen? Isn't the FF Fox property movie only?

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Am I alone in preferring to buy digital content rather than watch it on subscription services like Netflix?

I have Netflix along with HBO and Showtime, but for films and series that I really like, I buy them on Vudu so I have them to watch any time I want.

Am I in the minority, or do most people do a mix of purchased and subscription digital content like me?

 

[The Infernal]

Am I alone in preferring to buy digital content rather than watch it on subscription services like Netflix?

I have Netflix along with HBO and Showtime, but for films and series that I really like, I buy them on Vudu so I have them to watch any time I want.

Am I in the minority, or do most people do a mix of purchased and subscription digital content like me?

Bit of a mix for me. I generally prefer a physical copy over all else, but I have also have some movies/series purchased on my PSN and subscribe to Netflix.

 

[Boom]

I guess I'm confused by the conditions of the Fantastic Four/X-Men deal.

Suppose 20th Century Fox got bought up by Amazon Studios. Seeing as how the rights are effectively being leased to Fox, wouldn't those rights simply revert back to Disney/Marvel if Fox ceased to exist? Why would their buyer just end up with the rights?

 

[InCali]

Bit of a mix for me. I generally prefer a physical copy over all else, but I have also have some movies/series purchased on my PSN and subscribe to Netflix.

Same here. I have a collection of about 500-600 Blu Rays. I have a 3D projector in my home theater (which I use) and a lot of those are 3D.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I guess I'm confused by the conditions of the Fantastic Four/X-Men deal.

Suppose 20th Century Fox got bought up by Amazon Studios. Seeing as how the rights are effectively being leased to Fox, wouldn't those rights simply revert back to Disney/Marvel if Fox ceased to exist? Why would their buyer just end up with the rights?

The trick is 20th Century Fox would still exist, they would just be owned by Amazon. So 20th Century Fox (technically 21st Century now) still has the license and Amazon owns 21st Century Fox. Nothing has really changed.

And it would be that way for all existing contracts etc. that 21st Century Fox signed. The guy serving food in the canteen would still have the same contract as before, directors and actors would still be working for 21st Century Fox etc. All those legal details would go with the newly owned company.

 

[wobbly]

I guess I'm confused by the conditions of the Fantastic Four/X-Men deal.

Suppose 20th Century Fox got bought up by Amazon Studios. Seeing as how the rights are effectively being leased to Fox, wouldn't those rights simply revert back to Disney/Marvel if Fox ceased to exist? Why would their buyer just end up with the rights?

I was thinking that too, but after thought as long as the buyer doesn't dismantle the studio and do they simply take over ownership of the company and its assets, then "20th Century Fox" would still exist as a studio. As such the ownership could change hands and all existing contracts held by them would remain viable.

 

[Big Bang]

I guess I'm confused by the conditions of the Fantastic Four/X-Men deal.

Suppose 20th Century Fox got bought up by Amazon Studios. Seeing as how the rights are effectively being leased to Fox, wouldn't those rights simply revert back to Disney/Marvel if Fox ceased to exist? Why would their buyer just end up with the rights?

Technically Fox (Movie Studio) would continue to exist. Itself as an entity would just be under new management. That being said, there is no way for the public to know for sure if there are clauses that cancel out the deal in the event that Fox is acquired by a third party.

I would imagine that would be common practice, but as we all know, Marvel wasn't exactly bargaining from a position of strength when these contracts were written.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Bit of a mix for me. I generally prefer a physical copy over all else, but I have also have some movies/series purchased on my PSN and subscribe to Netflix.

Same here. I have a collection of about 500-600 Blu Rays. I have a 3D projector in my home theater (which I use) and a lot of those are 3D.

I've 'converted' just about all of mine now (for 2 bucks you can convert them to digital and you can upconvert DVD's to Blu-Ray quality for $5). I converted my whole collection and put the disks away in sleeves.

It's SOOOO nice to be able to just sit down and watch whatever you want from any room without going and finding the disk. And no more disks and cases cluttering the viewing area.

For a while, I was buying the disks and using the UV code to get both, but now I've gotten comfortable just buying the digital copy.

 

[Big Bang]

Maybe I’m just nuts but I thought Warner’s was already going to do that, at the very least with their DC properties.

Warners actually has a LOT of entertainment media, more than anyone else. If they did that it would be huge.

Actually, Time Warner sort of already has an entity that could do that and has been seen as more as an actual rival to Netflix. That would be HBO.

 

[Big Bang]

I've 'converted' just about all of mine now (for 2 bucks you can convert them to digital and you can upconvert DVD's to Blu-Ray quality for $5). I converted my whole collection and put the disks away in sleeves.

It's SOOOO nice to be able to just sit down and watch whatever you want from any room without going and finding the disk. And no more disks and cases cluttering the viewing area.

For a while, I was buying the disks and using the UV code to get both, but now I've gotten comfortable just buying the digital copy.

I only do the disc+digital copy for a very select few movies. Otherwise it's all digital for me. I even found a bit of a workaround for getting barcodes for the movies without actually having to physically have it.

Vudu and Movies Anywhere is like the perfect combo.

 

[wobbly]

Can't quote what Dollar wrote because the thread is closed, but

"Netflix/CBS, for example, would certainly want to keep all the licenses and produce everything in house."

If the above is true, wouldn't both have to REALLY step up the amount of money they are willing to put into a movie to bring it to the big screen? Isn't the FF Fox property movie only?

Yes. Theatrical release or bust.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Vudu and Movies Anywhere is like the perfect combo.

I love that Movies Anywhere links my Amazon and Vudu accounts. Before I had things figured out, I bought some movies on Amazon and I had some on Vudu and some on Amazon, but now I can get everything on any of the three.

And Movies Anywhere claims you can watch them anywhere in the world. I haven't tried that yet, but I know that I have been frustrated that Vudu wasn't available in other countries.

I also love that Marvel films are now available in UHD. I just pre-ordered Thor Ragnarok in UHD.

 

[Big Bang]

Can't quote what Dollar wrote because the thread is closed, but

"Netflix/CBS, for example, would certainly want to keep all the licenses and produce everything in house."

If the above is true, wouldn't both have to REALLY step up the amount of money they are willing to put into a movie to bring it to the big screen? Isn't the FF Fox property movie only?

See, the thing is that CBS did pretty much with Fox is trying to do, and they've shown no compunction to undo that even though the majority owner (Sumner Redstone) of both companies tried to get them to come back together. Going out and buying those bits of Fox would effectively make CBS a direct competitor to Redstone's other company, Paramount.

Netflix would be put in a very difficult position since the Marvel properties require the films get a theatrical release, otherwise they revert. Which goes against their primary business model.

 

[InCali]

I've 'converted' just about all of mine now (for 2 bucks you can convert them to digital and you can upconvert DVD's to Blu-Ray quality for $5). I converted my whole collection and put the disks away in sleeves.

It's SOOOO nice to be able to just sit down and watch whatever you want from any room without going and finding the disk. And no more disks and cases cluttering the viewing area.

For a while, I was buying the disks and using the UV code to get both, but now I've gotten comfortable just buying the digital copy.

That would cost me a lot of money, but it's worth considering. I actually like 3D, so I guess I'm stuck with those.

UHD???? Ooooooohhhhh........ I like that idea. TV prices are already somewhat reasonable. I haven't checked projector prices, but I could be ready for an upgrade in a couple of years.....

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

That would cost me a lot of money, but it's worth considering. I actually like 3D, so I guess I'm stuck with those.

UHD???? Ooooooohhhhh........ I like that idea. TV prices are already somewhat reasonable. I haven't checked projector prices, but I could be ready for an upgrade in a couple of years.....

Where it really makes sense is if you've got something on DVD and you want 1080p. The $5 to upgrade is cheaper than buying the Blu-Ray.

But once I got started I couldn't stop. What really cost me wasn't the conversion, but the OCD that compelled me to buy the ones that weren't available for conversion. But now I've got everything I really want and a collection of over 1000 films, so now I can just kick back and enjoy the fruits of my previous efforts.

 

[Darepool]

See, the thing is that CBS did pretty much with Fox is trying to do, and they've shown no compunction to undo that even though the majority owner (Sumner Redstone) of both companies tried to get them to come back together. Going out and buying those bits of Fox would effectively make CBS a direct competitor to Redstone's other company, Paramount.

Netflix would be put in a very difficult position since the Marvel properties require the films get a theatrical release, otherwise they revert. Which goes against their primary business model.

Excellent points.

 

[Orba]

Among the big Star Wars news today it was also mentioned that the new Disney streaming service will also have a new Marvel tv series.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/9/16630892/star-wars-live-action-series-marvel-disney

 

[Dasher10]

Among the big Star Wars news today it was also mentioned that the new Disney streaming service will also have a new Marvel tv series.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/9/16630892/star-wars-live-action-series-marvel-disney

Hoping that it's Shang Chi which would continue the story of Agents of SHIELD but over in Hong Kong with the Si Fan Triad hiring Taskmaster to take on a certain cage fighter turned SHIELD recruit.

 

[ADollarADay]

So, to no one's surprise, Disney chose to wuss out as well. Disney didn't give a pre warning like Fox did, so they got questions.

Literally the first question Disney got:

Question (Michael): One is because you didn't say, "we're not going to talk about press speculation" you have a chance to actually address the stories this week in the press.....
Moderator: Michael, let me jump in, it's Lowe. I have some bad news and good news. The bad news is as is our practice we are not going to take any questions on press speculation, but the good news is [you can save a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico.]

The second question:

Question (Alexia, JP Morgan): Bob I guess when you look at your film studio, specifically, you really outperform by such huge margin and the pipeline continues to look so robust. I guess can more scale or acquisition facilitate further growth or is your plate really full enough given the successful IP you already have
Iger: I appreciate the question. I think it's a bit, leading the witness a little bit lol as it relates to the subject that Michael brought up earlier. I don't think there's ever such a thing as having too much quality or too many strong franchises when it comes to films. We do not feel right now that we have a great need to add to the film slate that we have because as you cited we are doing just fine, but it doesn't mean there isn't room for more, we just don't have a significant or urgent need for that. That said, we also as a company demonstrated ability to leverage success in this area not just in our studio but across various other businesses particularly consumer products and theme parks, so we are always going to be looking to adding to the number of film franchises that we produce and own.

I am now 1000% certain conversations have taken place.
I am also 90% certain communication was exchanged between the two parties when the leak broke.
I am also 80% certain conversations have resumed or will soon.

The market wants it. There's no reason for Fox to be up 5% for barely outperforming estimates. No reason for Fox to be up 15% this week. There's no reason for Disney to be up 1% by missing estimates. Up 5% this week.

Fox wants it. Disney wants it.

What's the hold up? IMHO, $$$. It seems like both parties have agreed on what assets will be sold, $$$ seems to be the hold up. If they agree to terms, it's a done deal. Hulu seems to be a point of contention. TWX bought 10% of the company for 580MM in, valuing Hulu at 5.8B just last year, while analysts had Hulu valued at 25B. That's a difference of ~5B for the 30% equity in an acquisition. A significant amount.

Iger was very bullish on the call on Hulu, so is he trying to drive up Hulu's price so he can divest it and use that equity as part of the acquisition, or is he bullish and wants Fox's 30% share?