Talks For Disney To Buy Fox Are Already Over

Well, that was fast. Forget those dreams of young Han Solo landing on a planet of xenomorphs and looking for unobtanium. Disney‘s talks with Fox to buy the movie studio and some other major assets is already over.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the potential blockbuster deal fell apart after the two sides couldn’t agree on deal points, and basically, how much money should change hands. It’s a bit of a bummer for Disney, who lets the original “Star Wars” trilogy and the prequels slip through their fingers, not to mention “Avatar,” which is getting the theme park treatment from the company. And sorry kids, it means the X-Men are still out of Marvel‘s hands. But it leaves Fox with a whole bunch of valuable assets they clearly want to offload — at the right price — and I’d wager there will be some of the big hitters thinking about a making an offer. It’s a bit interesting that Fox is ready to get out of the movie business, but given the uncertainty of the landscape — with the rise of streaming, and shrinking VOD windows — perhaps they see the writing on the wall.

Either way, both companies saw their stocks get a little boost with the news that such a deal was even under consideration — with Fox getting a 5% bump, and Disney 1%  — so it’s a short-term gain. Clearly, Disney is ready to spend big on some strategic purchases to grow their already huge company, into a more mammoth size. Maybe they’ll circle back and knock on Netflix’s door?