Disney Shuts Down Fox's "Adult Movie" Division, Lays off Thousands

Talk about the latest movies and video releases here!
Message
Author
User avatar
AndyDursin
Posts: 34185
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
Location: RI

Disney Shuts Down Fox's "Adult Movie" Division, Lays off Thousands

#1 Post by AndyDursin »

Fox News/Sports/Fox Broadcast would apparently not be part of this.

From an entertainment perspective, I think it sucks. Blows. One more production entity consumed by Disney to produce more comic book movies -- certainly not films for adults, which is what Fox's output is more geared towards.

The nerds will be happy. Everyone else? Not so much.

To say nothing of what it would do to the home video market, which Disney cares almost nothing about.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/06/21st-ce ... urces.html

User avatar
Paul MacLean
Posts: 7031
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 10:26 pm
Location: New York

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#2 Post by Paul MacLean »

Apparently the deal is off (thank goodness)...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -cnbc-says

mkaroly
Posts: 6214
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:44 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#3 Post by mkaroly »

Let's hope it never happens.

User avatar
AndyDursin
Posts: 34185
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
Location: RI

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#4 Post by AndyDursin »

Really, would have been a loss for everyone.

If this kind of thing happens, from a movie buff perspective, would rather see Fox buy Time Warner so the Fox/WB library would be under one roof with people who care about their back catalog, etc. But obviously, that stuff is way secondary to streaming and whatever else is driving these megacorporation maneuvers.

User avatar
Monterey Jack
Posts: 9712
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:14 am
Location: Walpole, MA

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#5 Post by Monterey Jack »

We are Disney. Resistance Is Useless. You will be assimilated.

User avatar
AndyDursin
Posts: 34185
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
Location: RI

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#6 Post by AndyDursin »

As a side note, Disney in trouble for banning the LA Times from critic screenings after running an editorial criticizing them of Disney's Anaheim business dealings.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2017/11/07/wa ... eening-ban

esteban miranda
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:21 pm

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#7 Post by esteban miranda »

Monterey Jack wrote: Tue Nov 07, 2017 11:31 am ...Resistance Is Useless...
That's Futile...

User avatar
AndyDursin
Posts: 34185
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
Location: RI

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#8 Post by AndyDursin »

Talks have started up again.

What a disaster this is going to be for a movie buff if it happens. Or anyone who likes content aimed at anyone over the age of 12. Disney has no interest in back catalog, they have no interest in producing adult television like FX -- the only people who will be excited will be comic book nerds rejoicing that "the Marvel stable will be united at last!"

I mean seriously, nearly a century of movie history thrown out the door so AVENGERS 5 can have 24 different superheroes flying around punching robots for three hours.

Disney owns too much already, they're too big and too influential. I really hope Fox sells to someone else, but the pull of Marvel and AVATAR (Disney World has a whole AVATAR-LAND opening up soon) is likely driving Disney over to their side. :(

KevinEK
Posts: 325
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 6:32 pm

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#9 Post by KevinEK »

We'll have to see what happens.

My instincts say that even if Disney acquires the Fox entertainment division, they wouldn't necessarily dump the non comic-book/franchise materials.
There is a value in them holding on to outlets like FX and Fox Searchlight.
In the same way that a network holds on to a lower-rated program that gets critical attention.
Even in the scenario where Disney is overall running the show, I believe you'd still see plenty of interesting material from the Fox side of the equation.
Just as Disney has done in the past with Miramax and other outlets.
If anything, Disney would likely use Fox as its "adult branded" area, much as they once tried to do with Touchstone.

User avatar
AndyDursin
Posts: 34185
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
Location: RI

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#10 Post by AndyDursin »

That would make sense, except Disney has made an active choice to move away from Touchstone and Miramax. They axed their Dreamworks live-action distribution deal and have basically gotten out of making anything beyond producing blockbuster franchises and movies for kids. I've mentioned it before, but Disney made THE HELP as a Touchstone release -- it grossed $200 million and won Oscars. Then they basically shut down Touchstone for good after that! They'd rather make billions, not millions.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Their entire business model and staunch political correctness does not gibe with the adult programming FX offers, or shows like FAMILY GUY. From a content perspective, it's kind of a mystifying match. Does anyone think Disney is suddenly going to start making ALIEN movies? :mrgreen:

This move really is about acquiring a pipeline for content, and also getting Marvel and AVATAR properties which Disney has a vested interest in with the theme park that's being constructed at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Everything else is chicken feed to them, so whether or not they even retain the programming and even Fox's back catalog remains to be seen -- maybe they'll sell it off, who knows.

Will be interesting to see what happens, though it does not make me hopeful that an entertainment behemoth like Disney is getting even larger.

User avatar
Monterey Jack
Posts: 9712
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:14 am
Location: Walpole, MA

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#11 Post by Monterey Jack »

AndyDursin wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:12 pmI've mentioned it before, but Disney made THE HELP as a Touchstone release -- it grossed $200 million and won Oscars. Then they basically shut down Touchstone for good after that! They'd rather make billions, not millions.
There's something deeply flawed with the entire Hollywood system (not just Disney), when studios are more willing to risk a $300 million investment on a comic book or kid's movie with the vague potential of a billion-dollar return and possible sequels than $30 million on good, standalone movies for adults that gross $150 million worldwide. :? And we've seen SO many of these would-be tentpole movies crash and burn over the last decade, like The Lone Ranger, John Carter and the like. Thirty years ago, a Lone Ranger movie might have been bad, sure, but at least it would have only cost about $15-$20 million instead of $220 million. It's a movie with wide-open spaces, guns and horses, WHY did Disney need to spend so goddamn much on it?! Why did Warner Bros. blow $180 million on a Tarzan movie, when the character does nothing but swing around on vines? Wouldn't it have been LESS expensive just to shoot it in an ACTUAL jungle instead of doing it with all-greenscreen effects that looked like crap? Yeah, I'm well-versed in the old axiom that you have to spend moey to make money, but when a movie like Batman V Superman takes in $700 million worldwide and was still considered a disappointment, that's a business model that just can't sustain itself in the long run. Back in the 90's, we used to get a handful of modestly-budgeted, adult-oriented thrillers every summer and holiday season, usually sparked along by the star power of actors like Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Harrison Ford and based on Tom Clancy or John Grisham novels, but can you name a single movie like that in current release? Maybe that Roman J. Israel, Esq. flick with Denzel Washington, but that's not exactly burning up the box office charts.

User avatar
Paul MacLean
Posts: 7031
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 10:26 pm
Location: New York

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#12 Post by Paul MacLean »

Monterey Jack wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 3:22 pm
AndyDursin wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:12 pmI've mentioned it before, but Disney made THE HELP as a Touchstone release -- it grossed $200 million and won Oscars. Then they basically shut down Touchstone for good after that! They'd rather make billions, not millions.
There's something deeply flawed with the entire Hollywood system (not just Disney), when studios are more willing to risk a $300 million investment on a comic book or kid's movie with the vague potential of a billion-dollar return and possible sequels than $30 million on good, standalone movies for adults that gross $150 million worldwide. :?
Gone are the days of Orion Pictures (sadly) and their medium-budget, but high-quality films aimed at people over the age of 17. Orion attracted top talent by allowing the filmmakers a lot of freedom (the antithesis of Harvey Weinstein's M.O.) and while they of course wanted their movies to be profitable, they also wanted them to be interesting, and unique.

mkaroly
Posts: 6214
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:44 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#13 Post by mkaroly »

Bold prediction: when Antichrist comes, Disney will be his or her propaganda machine.

I can't stand Disney or their products or their oversaturation of commercials, etc. Fox would be making a huge mistake in selling their brand to them. That is all I have to say.

User avatar
AndyDursin
Posts: 34185
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
Location: RI

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#14 Post by AndyDursin »

Paul MacLean wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2017 2:46 am
Monterey Jack wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 3:22 pm
AndyDursin wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:12 pmI've mentioned it before, but Disney made THE HELP as a Touchstone release -- it grossed $200 million and won Oscars. Then they basically shut down Touchstone for good after that! They'd rather make billions, not millions.
There's something deeply flawed with the entire Hollywood system (not just Disney), when studios are more willing to risk a $300 million investment on a comic book or kid's movie with the vague potential of a billion-dollar return and possible sequels than $30 million on good, standalone movies for adults that gross $150 million worldwide. :?
Gone are the days of Orion Pictures (sadly) and their medium-budget, but high-quality films aimed at people over the age of 17. Orion attracted top talent by allowing the filmmakers a lot of freedom (the antithesis of Harvey Weinstein's M.O.) and while they of course wanted their movies to be profitable, they also wanted them to be interesting, and unique.
So true, and we are entering into this strange world where those kinds of projects are becoming Netflix, Amazon, or cable TV series instead.

The issue this kind of adult content has going forward is that there's so much programming on those services, that they are playing to smaller and smaller audiences (this season, South Park has shown Netflix executives handing out series orders to anyone who calls them up!).

I mean does anyone even know Woody Allen created a TV series for Amazon -- much less remember it?

User avatar
AndyDursin
Posts: 34185
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
Location: RI

Re: Disney Buying Fox? Ugh

#15 Post by AndyDursin »

Excellent Deadline analysis shows what kind of a monster this deal would be. And what a massive mega-conglomerate Disney would become even further.

I have a hard time believing the government may not give them a very hard time about this. If they're not allowing the AT&T/Time Warner merger, why would they let this happen? Disney would control a massive percentage of the entertainment/broadcast industry after this.

http://deadline.com/2017/12/what-happen ... 202220975/

Post Reply