Nerd News Page 35

What does this mean for Marvel movies?!!! The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.

Analyst David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co. said the acquisition will help Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theaters to see Marvel's superhero fare in recent years. That contrasts with Disney's recent successes among young women with such fare as "Hannah Montana" and the Jonas Brothers.

"It helps Disney add exposure to a young male demographic it had sort of lost some balance with," Joyce said, noting the $4 billion offer was at "full price."

Disney said Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash, plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own. That values each Marvel share at $50 based on Friday's closing stock prices.

Marvel shares jumped $10.17, or 26 percent, to $48.82 shortly after the market opened. Disney shares fell 47 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $26.37.

Disney said the boards of both companies have approved the transaction, but it will require an antitrust review and the approval of Marvel shareholders.

Disney last made a big purchase in 2006 when it acquired Pixar Animation Studios Inc., the creator of the "Toy Story" franchise, for $7.4 billion in stock.

Disney CEO Robert Iger said the latest acquisition combines Marvel's "strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters" with Disney's "unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties" and ability to maximize value across multiple platforms and territories.

Marvel earned a net profit of $206 million last fiscal year, up 47 percent from a year earlier, on revenue of $676 million, as it took movie production in house instead of just cutting licensing deals.

Is A Marvel Movie In The Card's For Pixar?

Due to the earlier news that Disney bought Marvel the question of whether or not Pixar will make a Marvel Movie has come up?
This from Cinematical:

"Ever since the news broke early this morning that the Walt Disney Co. had acquired Marvel Entertainment for upwards of $4 billion in cash and stocks, a number of additional details have emerged via a shareholder conference call regarding the deal. Now, first, it's important to understand that Disney just doesn't nab every Marvel character in existence when it comes to movies, since the rights to some characters -- like Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four and The X-Men -- are in the hands of other studios. Also, Paramount still has five more Marvel movies to distribute under their deal (Thor, Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America and one other), so don't look for Disney to begin screwing around with those (or any) upcoming Marvel projects just yet. Eventually, though, Disney wants to become the sole distributor for all of Marvel's films."

This is good news. At least the Marvel movies that are currently in development to be distributed by other studios will not be tampered with. Although it does confirm that the likes of Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four and X-Men are stil the property of the respected studios that own them, unlike what was reported earlier.