Disney CEO Bob Iger held his First Quarter conference call with investors where he revealed that multiple Star Wars shows are in development for the Disney SVOD service and discussed the recent announcement about D.B. Weiss and David Benioff’s planned Star Wars movies.
These announcements were meant to build confidence for investors and the general public. Most importantly though during this call was that he explained and provided an update on Disney‘s industry-changing $52.4 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s assets and the subordinate 20th Century Fox film studio and what it would mean for the multibillion dollar entertainment company.
Iger went on to explain that the merger has yet to go through and has to navigate a grueling legal process with the federal government’s regulators before it will officially be approved:
“Before we discuss the quarter and other developments across the company, a quick update about our recently announced acquisition. The regulatory process has begun in numerous jurisdictions across the world. And I spent the last several weeks meeting with a number of business leaders at Fox, gaining insight that will be invaluable when it comes to integrating our organizations once we have regulatory approval. After these discussions, I’m even more enthusiastic about the businesses we’re acquiring and the management teams that are leading them.”
Furthermore, Iger elaborated on what Disney’s agenda for the soon-to-be subsidiary will be:
“As we said, when we announced this deal, there are three primary strategic priorities fulfilled by this acquisition. It will deliver more content and the production capabilities and talent to produce even more. It will enhance our direct-to-consumer initiatives with platforms, technologies, brands and existing customer relationships to build on. And it will greatly diversify our businesses geographically. All three of these elements sync up perfectly with our own core strategies, and all three are designed to create growth in a very dynamic global marketplace.”
Fans are definitely excited for what this merger will mean in the grand scheme of things, however, obtaining the rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men is not Bob Iger’s goal. The 66 year old CEO is more focused on guaranteeing Disney’s dominance over the global box office and all other forms of entertainment mediums that exist.
It is to be noted that since the ink on this merger is not fully dry until the government oversight on the merger is complete other bidders can still pitch to outbid Disney and disrupt the potential merger between the two companies. Recently, telecommunications giant Comcast has planned to disrupt the merger by outbidding Disney which the company is prepared for the possibility. Whether either company will be legally allowed to acquire 21st Century Fox and the subordinate 20th Century Fox or will be approved by the government is still yet to be determined. It has been previously reported that this merger could take 11 to 17 months to clear up if it is not in violation of antitrust laws.
What do you think of this news? Are you excited to see Disney acquire a new company? Let us know in the comments section down below!
