Fallout of the Fox Acquisition

I feel I've been too positive about Disney on this blog lately, as I've covered their recent films, series, and other output. Frankly, there are a lot of negatives to their company practices and their recent acquisition of 20th Century Fox that I'm not at all happy with. I thought it was time for a post specifically discussing this.

Let's start with the basic facts of the merger and reorganization. Disney has assumed control of Twentyfirst Century Fox and most of its subsidiaries, which removes competition from the entertainment industry on a fundamental level. So far, Disney has announced the shut down of the Fox 2000 label, which gave us "Hidden Figures" and "Love Simon." Fox Sports Networks has been sold to Sinclair Broadcasting Group. There have been several waves of layoffs so far, and it has been estimated that they may eventually affect up to 4,000 employees.

Many Fox films in development, such as the fantasy tentpole "Mouse Guard," have been cancelled. A list circulated in August, with over 200 projects that had been cut loose. A few like Paul Greengrass/Tom Hanks film "News of the World" and an adaptation of Angie Thomas's "On the Come Up" have been picked up by other studios, but most have simply been left adrift. What remains of the current Fox slate is being limited to ten films a year (down from 15-18 theatrical releases), with half of those films expected to be destined for Hulu and Disney+. Franchise films like "Avatar," "Kingsman," and "Planet of the Apes" will be getting the most attention, and there have been rumblings of reboots being planned for older franchises like "Home Alone" and "Night at the Museum," which will likely go to streaming. Fox Searchlight Pictures, the vaunted indie division of Fox, has so far been left untouched. However, there have been some troubling reports, like a screening of Taika Waititi's "Jojo Rabbit" leaving an executive worried "that the material would alienate Disney fans."

Another issue that has come up is the hit that repertory theaters have taken since Disney's policy toward its catalogue titles is now being applied to Fox films. In short, Disney isn't a fan of its older films being exhibited for profit, and now it's taking many popular Fox titles out of circulation as well, including "Fight Club," "Alien," "The Princess Bride," "Die Hard," and "The Sound of Music." The only exempt title at the moment seems to be perennial midnight screening favorite, "Rocky Horror Picture Show." There's been a lot of speculation as to Disney's reasons for doing this, whether it's to bolster the appeal of its streaming libraries or remove competition for its new releases. However, the net effect is that the policy will make a lot of movies more difficult to see in the way they were originally intended.

Other theater owners are looking at tougher treatment from Disney too. Disney has been notorious for its stringent exhibitor requirements for showing its bigger blockbusters, often demanding larger percentages of the box office returns, more screens and showtimes, and longer holds. A few years ago, you might remember that Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" wasn't able to play the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, because Disney was hogging screens for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Now, with control of the Fox films, they'll have even more leverage to squeeze theater owners. The strongarm tactics and unreasonable demands have already caused some exhibitors to drop certain Disney titles. One recent casualty is Terrence Malick's "A Hidden Life," which many smaller art house theaters simply can't afford to show with Disney's restrictions.

We've yet to see much of the effect of the merger on Fox's television holdings, but there are some troubling portents, with Disney clearly prioritizing its Disney+ and Hulu streaming services. Ryan Murphy has jumped ship for Netflix after years of working with Fox, directly pointing to his concerns with the merger as the reason for his decision. Tensions between Disney and Netflix have been steadily on the rise for a while. Netflix also lured away ABC Studios hitmaker Shonda Rimes, and there's been rumors that Disney dropped David Benioff and D.B.Weiss from "Star Wars" after their deal with Netflix. Disney also inherited the acrimonious lawsuit between Fox and Netflix over executive poaching.

Honestly, I'm not as upset about the merger as some, because while Disney is now the biggest entertainment conglomerate on the block, they still have plenty of competition. The streaming wars are heating up. Theatrical exhibition is never as predictable as is seems. Inevitably, some of their more underhanded tactics are going to backfire on them - remember the backlash over the "Frozen" short attached to "Coco"? Disney is a juggernaut, but it's far from invincible. After the record year they've had, 2020 is going to be a much softer one.

I'm also seeing some looming problems with Disney+, but that's a post for another day.
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