Behind the Disney-Fox Merger: 7 Things We Still Need to Know

The merger of 21st Century Fox’s main entertainment assets with The Walt Disney Company announced on Thusday is one of those deals that come around once in a generation.

It signals a major change in the balance of power in Hollywood, as well as serves as a reflection of the seismic shift that has happened over the past decade with the rise of technology platforms.

Also Read: Disney Acquires 21st Century Fox Assets for $52.4 Billion

WaxWord will weigh in on that a bit later, but in the meantime, here are seven questions that weigh on our minds with this mega-merger:

1. What happens to top executives?
Dozens of top-notch executives are thrown into limbo by the merger, a talent pool the likes of which has not been available for decades.

Will streaming giants Amazon and Netflix swoop in to poach Fox executives? I think yes. Among the chief targets are studio chief Stacey Snider, production chief Emma Watts, Fox 2000 lead Elizabeth Gabler, marketing veterans Pam Levine or Julie Rieger — all on the movie side alone.

And it’s anybody’s guess the next corporate home for the unique management and programming skills of Dana Walden and Gary Newman — partners of two decades — not to mention the couple dozen of top rated television chiefs who work for them.

2. What about Peter Rice?
Rice, president of 21st Century Fox as well as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Networks Group, is one of the top executives at Fox.

He has been Rupert Murdoch’s favored non-biological son for two decades, often seen as someone who could lead the company. Will he be left in the cold, or groomed to succeed Bob Iger?

3. What exactly happens to Hulu?
Hulu is sticking around. Iger has made clear that whatever Disney’s new streaming service is — it’s not this. So now Disney will own a 60 percent stake in Hulu — the combined stake of Disney and Fox — and will need to decide about the future of the streaming service.

The streaming service has had some significant success in the past year but has also been plagued by infighting among the owner-parents — which also include Comcast (through NBCUniversal) and Time Warner (through Turner Broadcasting).

Also Read: Hulu Won't Morph Into Disney's New Streaming Service, Bob Iger Says

4. Does Fox Searchlight have a future?
The prized indie film studio, which won Best Picture with “12 Years a Slave” and has a major Oscar contender this year with “The Shape of Water,” is a source of prestige but not great revenue or profits at Fox.

Will Disney keep it as a standalone label after its rocky 17-year experience with Miramax, which it sold in 2010? Will it be relegated to making movies for the streaming service?

5. Will Disney have an appetite R-rated fare?
Fox has built the model for R-rated superhero action with “Deadpool,” and fan-friendly horror fare like Ridley Scott’s “Alien.” Can this comfortably live with the Disney brand of filmed entertainment? Fans are going to hope so.

Also Read: X-Men, Fantastic Four Fans Rejoice at Prospect of Mega-Avengers Movies With Disney-Fox Merger

6. Will this media mega-merger pass muster with Donald Trump’s regulators?
With the Trump-era Department of Justice suing AT&T over its planned acquisition of Time-Warner, many will want to see the same scrutiny of this mega-deal.

It seems Rupert Murdoch’s friendship with Donald Trump might smooth the path, although many will be watching the space closely. (Personally I see zero chance of Donald doing anything to discomfit Rupert’s plans. He needs Fox News too much.)

7. How will exhibitors react?
This move further weakens theatrical exhibition, since it creates fewer sources of movie content and thus diminishes their leverage. The struggling chains are now being confronted with the pressure of MoviePass — a flat fee subscription service — and now the overwhelming force of Disney plus Fox.

The three things we know are:
• Hulu is staying put for the moment.

• X-Men and the Fantastic Four are likely to hook up with other Marvel superheroes in the not-too-distant future.

• Rupert and Donald will stay tight buddies, and Bob Iger ain’t running for president next cycle.

15 Times 'The Simpsons' Predicted the Future (Photos)

"The Simpsons" has an eerie knack for predicting the future, from Donald Trump's presidency to U.S. beating Sweden for an Olympic gold medal in curling. Here are 14 times the long-running comedy series got it right.
Lady Gaga

On the episode "Lisa Goes Gaga," Lady Gaga is shown suspended by cables flying over the audience at a concert. Well surprise, surprise because at the Super Bowl LI's halftime show, Gaga descended from the stadium's roof with suspension cables wearing pretty much the same outfit on her episode.
Fox
2016 Nobel Prize Winner

In a 2010 episode, Milhouse predicted that Bengt R. Holmstrom would win the Nobel Prize in Economics and, sure enough, in 2016 Holmstrom and Oliver Hart were announced as joint winners of the prize.
Fox
Donald Trump Presidency

In an episode from 2000 titled "Bart to the Future" that flashes forward to the future, Lisa becomes president and takes over after Donald Trump, apparently, ruined the economy.
Fox
Siegfried and Roy Tiger Attack

In 1993, an episode titled "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)," magicians in a Siegfried and Roy-like show got attacked by their trustworthy tiger.

In 2003, Roy was attacked by one of their white tigers during a live performance. He sustained injuries, but lived.
Fox
Arnold Palmer

On the 28th season premiere, the satirical series made an Arnold Palmer joke... on the day that golfer Arnold Palmer died.

Homer Simpson tells his wife Marge that he plans to “Arnold Palmer” his pal Lenny.

“Arnold Palmer Lenny?” Marge responds. “You’re going to Arnold Palmer Lenny?”

He was of course referring to the lemonade and iced tea drink mixture -- which was named after the golfer.
Fox
Faulty Voting Machine

During the 2012 elections, a voting machine proved faulty when votes cast for Barack Obama went to Mitt Romney instead.

In a 2008 episode, Homer Simpson went to the voting booths to cast a vote for Obama, but... his vote went to McCain instead.
Fox
Higgs Boson

In a 1998 episode, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace," Homer writes out an equation on a chalkboard which, if solved, “you get the mass of a Higgs boson that’s only a bit larger than the nano-mass of a Higgs boson actually is," says Simon Singh, science author.
Fox
Horse Meat Scandal

In 1994, an episode titled "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song," the lunch lady was seen reaching into a barrel labeled "assorted horse parts" and putting the meat into the school's lunch pot.

In 2013, it was reported that traces of horse DNA was found in beef products across the UK.

Fox
Guitar Hero

The now basically extinct but once popular video game Guitar Hero was first released in 2005.

But in a 2002 "The Simpsons" episode, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards give Homer a jacket that has "guitar hero" printed on the back of it.
Fox
Farmville

The virtual reality game, Farmville, was all the craze in 2009 with people rushing home from work or school to tend to their farm.

In a 1998 episode, "The Simpsons" shows a scene were kids are excited to play in a yard work simulator.
Fox
Old Beatles Letters

In Season 2's episode 18, "Brush With Greatness," Ringo Starr from the Beatles is shown responding to fan letters while saying: "They took the time to write me, and I don’t care if it takes me another 20 years. I’m going to answer every one of them."

Well, two women in England received a reply to their fan mail form Sir Paul McCartney 50 years later.
Fox
Smart Watches

Sorry Apple, but "The Simpsons" had smart watches first.

In a 1995 episode in which the show is set in the future, Lisa's husband is shown speaking to a phone on his wrist.

The first smartwatch wasn't created until 2013.
Fox
Disney Owns Fox

Back in 1998, a quick scene in "The Simpsons" showed 20th Century Fox as "a Division of Walt Disney Co." And in March 2019, Disney completed its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and TV assets.
Fox
U.S. Wins an Olympic Gold Medal in Curling

In 2010, Homer and Marge beat Sweden and took home an Olympic gold medal for Team U.S.A. in Mixed Match Curling. As the animated sportscaster said, "Open your history books, tear out the pages and put this indelible Olympic moment in."
Fox
Murder Hornets and Coronavirus

In a 1993 episode, a Japanese factory worker accidentally spreads the contagious "Osaka Flu" to Springfield, and in the town peoples' rush to find a cure, they accidentally knock over a van with killer bees inside. The spread of "murder hornets" in America has coincided with the coronavirus in 2020. The coincidence was first noticed by former "Simpsons" writer Bill Oakley.
Fox

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From Donald Trump’s presidency to Disney buying Fox to the spread of “murder hornets”

"The Simpsons" has an eerie knack for predicting the future, from Donald Trump's presidency to U.S. beating Sweden for an Olympic gold medal in curling. Here are 14 times the long-running comedy series got it right.

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