Marvel-X Men crossover potential aside, Disney’s acquisition of Fox could have major repercussions for creativity in the film industry.
On Thursday, we learned that Disney has purchased large parts of 20th Century Fox (now 21st Century Fox) including the movie — and TV divisions.
For a whooping $52.4 billion dollars, the deal spans such properties as X-Men, Fantastic Four, Alien, Kingsman, Die Hard and Avatar, and also includes the FX Networks and National Geographic, Fox’s stake in Hulu, Sky and Star, and regional sports networks.
As many fans have noted, this move opens some doors for future superhero franchise crossovers, which is great. But the less exciting part of the story is the potential implications for creative diversity in Hollywood; the more big properties Disney controls, the more we can expect the Disney standard of storytelling to dominate.
Already later on Thursday, the Writers Guild of America West released a statement expressing exactly these concerns, highlighting the danger of allowing big businesses to control the creative market.
The WGA West writes:
“In the relentless drive to eliminate competition, big business has an insatiable appetite for consolidation. Disney and Fox have spent decades profiting from the oligopolistic control that the six major media conglomerates have exercised over the entertainment industry, often at the expense of the creators who power their television and film operations.
Article Continues BelowNow, this proposed merger of direct competitors will make matters even worse by substantially increasing the market power of a combined Disney-Fox corporation. The antitrust concerns raised by this deal are obvious and significant.”
The statement concludes with WGA West expressing that the labor union “strongly opposes this merger,” and “will work to ensure our nation’s antitrust laws are enforced.”
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