Disney to acquire Fox - what’s in it for LEGO?
Posted by TheBrickPal,
It’s just about a done deal - The Walt Disney Company today announced their planned acquisition of the 21st Century Fox film and TV studio assets for a whopping $52 billion.
This is not only the biggest deal of the year or even the biggest Disney deal; it’s perhaps the biggest general business deal of all time. This will surely have a huge effect on the entertainment and media industry as a whole.
You can read the full press release here.
How could the associated franchises possibly affect LEGO? Read on after the break to find out, as I speculate away...
Marvel Super Heroes
The biggest news is that Marvel Studios will finally regain the film rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four, meaning a potential debut in their cinematic universe. This possibly means new, comic-based sets for both - the latter of which has never seen any representation in the brick!
The X-Men have had LEGO portrayals in three sets: 2012’s 6866 Wolverine's Chopper Showdown and 2014’s 76022 X-Men vs. The Sentinel, plus this year’s 76073 Mighty Micros: Wolverine vs. Magneto. More movies under Marvel’s creative control certainly means an increase in merchandise, including LEGO, and I expect to see plenty more sets in the years to come - especially when (not if ;-) ) the mutants are integrated into the highly-lucrative MCU releases.
Fantastic Four, however, is a slightly different case. Marvel’s First Family has never had a hugely successful film in their three attempts, and so I don’t see new sets based on them being particularly profitable at first. However, that could change with some proper help from Marvel Studios and I only expect them after such a film is conceived and is released. At that point, it will be quite the event!
And what about the famous Merc with a Mouth? Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed today that they plan on keeping Deadpool with an R rating, which seems to dial down the notion of any movie-inspired sets for him. A comic-inspired Deadpool has previously appeared in one of the aforementioned X-Men sets, and as a Howard the Duck version in this year’s SDCC-exclusive Deadpool Duck.
The Simpsons
Fox’s television network is not included in the deal, but the production company that produces most of its shows is - and one of those shows is The Simpsons.
LEGO, of course, struck a Simpsons licensing deal with Fox in 2014 - spawning two series of Collectible Minifigures and two direct-to-consumer sets.
The show has slowed down considerably in the last few years - but if Disney were to invigorate the brand (perhaps with a second movie), we can possibly expect more brick-ified Springfield coming our way. At least, one would hope!
Fox also offers several more ‘adult’ animated series: Family Guy, American Dad, Bob’s Burgers and Futurama, just to name a few. While the first’s license belongs to K’nex (and otherwise, may be too raunchy for LEGO), could any of the others make their way into LEGO’s portfolio? The last holds the most likely possibility, in my opinion.
Other
Disney is not just acquiring several Marvel and Simpsons characters in this monumental merger. Far from it, actually!
Through Fox, the Mouse House will have access to Planet of the Apes, Alien and Predator, Blue Sky Studios films like Ice Age and Rio, and 1997’s animated Anastasia, and much more. The latter could see herself joining the Disney Princess franchise, and thus the associated LEGO theme too, which I would enjoy very much!
Another huge property in the mix is James Cameron’s Avatar. The highest-grossing film of all time still has multiple sequels planned, and Fox, through Disney, attempted to give the franchise a boost through the Disney Animal Kingdom’s Pandora - The World of Avatar park earlier this year. Now that Disney will fully own the franchise, are LEGO sets in the cards with the upcoming films? I would expect them to be quite popular, if so!
So there you have it. What are you hoping occurs - either with LEGO’s involvement or the franchises themselves? Let us know in the comments below!
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33 comments on this article
I want the X-men, full line-up from the cartoon. Favorite series from childhood.
I need a Fantastic Four set. Maybe 4! These Chinese knock offs just don’t do it for me anymore. The X-Men need way more sets too. IT’S ABOUT TIME!
Great news for Marvel fans and tons of possibilities for others. I'd agree with @inversion that the cartoon X-Men version was one of my favorite cartoons to watch in the early 90s. I'm assuming price will reflect the cost of acquisition so be prepared for "expensive" remarks by some.
@MTBrickHouse
Economically, the cost of acquisition has no effect on the profit-maximizing price, so I would not be afraid. They will likely have the same price level as the rest of the Super Heroes range, unless they try to cash in on the fan favorite characters, which is again unrelated to the acquisition.
^ They’ll own everything eventually... including us! We’re all just slaves to Mickey Mouse in their master plan!
This will definitely come under government scrutiny before the deal goes through.
If Lego does do more mature themes, I really hope Stranger Things sets could come.
I think the most likely circumstances are as follows:
- I'll start it off simple: Yes, there will be X-Men sets. Seems definite as Super Heroes is a top theme for LEGO and an easy market for Marvel. Don't know how it'll affect the movies however, especially with Sony Pictures.
- In the case of most licenses, LEGO doesn't partner with a company unless an extension of a property is made. For example, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became a theme when there was a new TV show, or Indiana Jones/Toy Story 3 /Jurassic World didn't have sets based on multiple films in the franchise until there was a sequel. One of the few recent licenses to escape this pattern is Scooby-Doo from my memory, as the sets were based on the original show and not the new version, Be Cool Scooby-Doo. THEREFORE, the likelihood for Avatar sets is good since there will be sequels.
-LEGO also operates on mostly kid-friendly franchises, despite Ghostbusters and The Simpsons peeking through despite their adult humor. The Simpsons was given extra care to dance around parent complaints about adult themes depicted in the sets, and I believe it would be difficult for other Fox comedies like American Dad or Family Guy to do the same, which are more straightforward in their adult humor. Futurama and Bob's Burgers are possible, a little less explicit and more popular than the former two, but with Futurama over there's not much expected new material to bring it up. Again, Scooby-Doo example could prove me wrong.
-I actually watched a video talking about the possibility of Anastasia being a Disney Princess, but being acquired by Disney isn't enough. There's actually a specific set of guidelines for official Disney Princess status (surprisingly, Elsa and Anna from Frozen don't count because they're too successful and are branching to their own franchise as a result). Video link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=Eg_kW5fw6qU
- In most cases it comes down to money, as these are all businesses. The questions is, can they all make money from bringing back franchises or are already in deep in production? Futurama, Bob's Burgers and Family Guy are as iconic as The Simpsons at this point, if not right behind the citizens of Springfield. Merch will still be made based on them, so it's possible they can break it into the building toy market (as far as Knex having Family Guy, I tried following them since they first made them a few years ago and I don't know why the sudden resurgence this year, and in my opinion, Knex isn't doing well enough to keep properties going). But considering other previous factors, such as kid-friendly material, sequelitis/boom in trend or popularity, or treatment by Disney compared to their offspring franchises, it's a toss-up on them becoming LEGO themes. At best, a D2C set or two per theme for the adult market that LEGO acknowledges.
Official Lego Alien - now there's a thought...
More Lego Simpsons gets a 'meh' from me.
But the Xmen franchise is get steadily more adult, right? First Deadpool, then Logan, and now a partnership with Lego? Um--No.
^ It’s Marvel. Plus, the main X-Men movies have been no less family-friendly than MCU offerings - and if we’ve had sets before, why not more later on?
I loved the x-men comics when I was a kid and I can’t wait to get the sets!
OMG - Futurama sets... MUST HAVE!!!
@TheBrickPal - Too true lol. I knew that mouse was up to no good. Mickey Mouse was originally portrayed as a thug in the 1930's. Perhaps he's still a thug...
definitely more x-men sets that would be awesome!
And if we could really get futurama in lego form...oh my god
I would love some Futurama sets, but I don't think it's likely since Mega Construx (formerly Mega Blox) currently seems to have the license.
No love for Planet of the Apes?
Too bad the deal happen after the new trilogy culminated.
Yes! Percy Jackson is back home now, hopefully they will do something with Percy. I love the books.
Obligatory “Shut up and take my money” quote about Futurama, but it will never happen. Especially because LEGO has been hypocritically blocking Futurama Ideas submissions for years (yet they did the Simpsons).
That's a huge event. WB should seriously up their game in terms of their DC Comic film offerings regardless.
One license to rule them all, one license to find them...
Maniac4bricks;
You are saying Anastasia in not a disney princes yet, but since Disney now "owns" Fox, even my favorite Alien Queen is now a Disney Queen ;)
( i get your statement, but specific set of guidelines is good for people that work for Disney, but in general opinion they are princesses and queens now)
First: if this deal goes through, the institutions that were installed to prevent monopolies can be disbanded, because if such a conglomerate doesn't constitute a near-monopoly, I don't know what does.
Second: haven't we got more than enough of those shelf-sitting Superhero sets already that no one wants or buys? It's inflationary. Every known and unknown, plus every even more unknown or obscure "superhero" seems to be available in LEGO form already. Who buys this stuff? Certainly almost no one over here, otherwise these sets wouldn't be so heavily discounted so shortly after release yet still not move off the shelf. I just don't get it. Perhaps the US market wants this stuff, but why then not sell those sets only over there and put out some more popular stuff over here. It's not without precedent that LEGO sold sets only in Europe or only in the US, depending on what the market seems to want.
Otoh, if in one or two years time LEGO's entire lineup of sets will be some form of Superhero set, I will have lots more funds to invest in something else. Thanks in advance TLG.
It's been a decade since Indy has been available. Disney/TLG could print money by releasing a UCS Well of Souls.
So the focus of most of the LEGO-based coverage I'm reading seems to be based on the fact that LEGO and Disney have a great relationship. But the flip side of that is that if the relationship ever breaks down, LEGO will lose access to a MASSIVE amount of IP all at once.
Already half of my stores are devoted to Disney sets (Star Wars, Marvel, then Disney Princess). It used to be if Marvel wanted to back out, then fine, we'd still have LEGO Star Wars, and vice versa. Now we're in a situation where if LEGO is heavily dependent on its relationship with a single company.
That makes me nervous. I guarantee it makes someone in Billund nervous. And it should make you nervous as well.
For me this isn't a huge deal as I don't watch much TV and rarely go to movies. I'm not sure I'm all that happy of such a close knit relationship between Disney and Lego. Just look what's happening to the Star Wars franchise...yes people are throwing their money at it but the quality of the product is diminishing and the market is becoming super saturated with Space Balls merchandise (I mean Star Wars). If Disney ever took this one step further and tried to acquire Lego that would drastically change the company, and I'm not sure for the best.
A very well thought out and written article.
For me, I would be interested in Futurama minifigure series and Avatar sets. A Quaritch in mech armor in particular.
American Dad is just as "raunchy" as Family Guy, if not worse, so I wouldn't expect any LEGO sets from either. I would hope not anyway, it would really hurt my opinion of the LEGO Group. Now bring on the Aliens and Predator sets! Yes, I know these are "R" rated and would therefore seem to be as innapropriate as the cartoons mentioned, however these are action films and not cartoons based on crude and often racist behavior/jokes.
@OpenBagTwo and shaase these are very valid concerns for the future of LEGO, and should give great pause to all of us. Once upon a time there did exist such governmental protections/regulations from mega-corporations becoming monopolies in the US. However, given the state of our current governmental dysfunction I wouldn't expect to hear a peep, except to ask for their portion of the loot (campaign contribution for looking the other way).
@maniac4bricks
The Scooby Doo sets were based on the "Scooby Doo - Mystery Inc." series that aired at the same time the sets came out :)
I'm not entirely sure what to think of this. Yes, there are good things that will come out of it, but I can't help but feel skeptical.
I would really like to see some Planet of the Apes sets though, that would be cool.
And Speed. Speed would be epic. There could be a chance. (Though I doubt it.) Yes, it's rated R in the US, but in Canada it's PG, and in Quebec it's G. Mind you, that is Quebec. :P
I could care less about any new licenses. To me, there are way too many already. Instead of spending time and money on acquiring licenses for questionable cartoons and comic book heroes , how about getting back to the basics, such as Castle, Pirates or Space themes?
I really can't see Disney buying LEGO anytime soon, toy companies and media entertainment companies are quite different and practically all Disney toys are made by various other companies.
As for all these licenses, do we really need them? I'm getting pretty tired of practically exclusive licensed themes. All we really need is Star Wars, Superheroes, and maybe one wave a sets if a big movie's coming out. Beyond that can't we have some more non-licensed themes?
^ I didn’t say we needed them. I’m just saying what is most likely. Plus, the proposed X-Men and Fantastic Four sets would go into the already-existing Marvel theme anyway, and Simpsons wouldn’t be new.
@labronco2:
Castle = Nexo Knights
Pirates => Ninjago (get it?)
Space has both City Space and Star Wars
It's not so much that LEGO has abandoned their core themes as much as adapted them to the new millennium.
As a hardcore loather of Disney, I am scared of Disney buying many famous companies. This includes LEGO, Dreamworks, CN, Rooster Teeth, SONY and Nickelodeon. I'm not very excited for any of the Disney-owned sets.
I dislike most things made after Disney bought them. As for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the movie, I have to admit, was OK. The SW movies afterwards are not very good. The best SW movies were the 1977 trilogy. The prequels were also not very good, for different reasons.
Another fact, I used to want a King of the Hill reboot. Now, ever since Disney bought FOX, I stopped wanting one. I am also scared of the fate of some of my favorite shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.