Comcast to potentially buy part of Warner/Discovery in future

[Tyc00n96]

Out of curiosity, what would that mean for theme park rights?

 

[Nico]

“But it makes sense. All that short term thinking.”

 

[Nick]

I wouldnt get too excited for this. This is really all speculation right now based on how much money Comcast stands to make from Disney buying out their 33% of Hulu. A lot can happen over the course of a few years.

 

[HHN Maddux]

If this happened, imagine if you will:

Toon Lagoon gets rethemed to Looney Tunes.

Marvel is kept in IoA, and we get Gotham City/DC in either an Epic expansion or another new park.

Disney may have Star Wars, but that wouldn't be enough against Harry Potter, Marvel, DC, Nintendo, and LotR.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Lord of The Rings would still be a matter that would need to be dealt with Embracer.

I'd also imagine they couldn't do DC due to two factors:

1. Any forms of clauses in the MCA agreement that forbids similar concepts being brought in
2. SFCorp's contract with WBD (Same could be said for Looney Tunes)

Consolidation is still bad, let's be clear. WBD looking to get bought doesn't exactly shock me.

 

[Nico]

Lord of The Rings would still be a matter that would need to be dealt with Embracer.

I'd also imagine they couldn't do DC due to two factors:

1. Any forms of clauses in the MCA agreement that forbids similar concepts being brought in
2. SFCorp's contract with WBD (Same could be said for Looney Tunes)

Consolidation is still bad, let's be clear. WBD looking to get bought doesn't exactly shock me.

Theoretically, I don’t see either of these as issues. I see Comcast going after WB specifically for the DC properties and the ability to contend with Disney/Marvel.

1. Just because they have the contract in perpetuity, doesn’t technically mean there won’t be a time where they may view it better to go all in on DC (as a representation of their brand) and give Marvel to Disney. I think we’ve seen enough on what Disney would do with the rights. We haven’t seen Universal’s capabilities of using DC…and that’s exciting. The merits of this obviously could and should be debated.

2. Im under the assumption that Comcast would hold the licensing to these characters, and could then decide to terminate the Six Flags deal.

Essentially, stop paying Disney royalties but stop receiving royalties from Six Flags. Consolidation is bad for a host of democratic and artistic reasons. But…Batman at Universal…

 

[Nick]

Lord of The Rings would still be a matter that would need to be dealt with Embracer.

I'd also imagine they couldn't do DC due to two factors:

1. Any forms of clauses in the MCA agreement that forbids similar concepts being brought in
2. SFCorp's contract with WBD (Same could be said for Looney Tunes)

Consolidation is still bad, let's be clear. WBD looking to get bought doesn't exactly shock me.

Yeah, I think in order to use DC domestically, they'd obviously need to figure things out with Six Flags first. But beyond that, they may actually need to give up the Marvel rights.

I'm not really sure about how legal it would be for them to have both MSHI and a DC Land based on the original contract that was signed to get Marvel. When I say that I mean I genuinely have no idea and would be interested in finding out the answer.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I'll once again be adamant that I genuinely think Comcast consolidating NBCU with WBD, and spinning it off to become a mega-entertainment corpo is a terrible idea that will do damage to the industry. But outside of Apple being game, it's the only reality in which this makes complete sense to me.

In a way, it would net NBCU immediately this though.

• Scooby-Doo/Hanna-Barbara
• Cartoon Network/Adult Swim
• WBJP (which could be beneficial for Osaka)
• Larger control (with JKR still consulting) of Wizarding World
• New Line Cinema's horror collection
• Peter Jackson's Middle Earth (in visuals. They'd still need to work with Embracer for Lord of The Rings in general)
• Beetlejuice

I genuinely think if this happens, NBCU is terminating the rights completely from SFCorp. Honestly kind of hoping @Brian G. talks a bit about how the MCA-Universal agreement would be affected by that of DC being potentially owned by NBCU in this regard

 

[Nick]

I'll once again be adamant that I genuinely think Comcast consolidating NBCU with WBD, and spinning it off to become a mega-entertainment corpo is a terrible idea that will do damage to the industry. But outside of Apple being game, it's the only reality in which this makes complete sense to me.

I agree, it would be bad for the whole industry, but I also don't see WBD wanting to sell the whole company, just pieces here and there if they are looking at selling at all. WBD literally just became a thing so I doubt they WANT to sell yet, aside from maybe their animation houses.

Let's also take into account that Zaslav has said the crown jewel of WBD is DC, so I actually have a very hard time seeing him turning around and selling DC so quickly. Maybe downsizing the company, spinning off CNN, Cartoon Network, shuttering TBS, etc.

I don't think any deal, if one happens, would be nearly as big as you guys have in your imaginations and I don't think DC would be a part of the deal either.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I agree, it would be bad for the whole industry, but I also don't see WBD wanting to sell the whole company, just pieces here and there if they are looking at selling at all. WBD literally just became a thing so I doubt they WANT to sell yet, aside from maybe their animation houses.

Let's also take into account that Zaslav has said the crown jewel of WBD is DC, so I actually have a very hard time seeing him turning around and selling DC so quickly. Maybe downsizing the company, spinning off CNN, Cartoon Network, shuttering TBS, etc.

I don't think any deal, if one happens, would be nearly as big as you guys have in your imaginations and I don't think DC would be a part of the deal either.

I'll add an amendum, however.

If Don't Worry Darling and Black Adam fail to do what WB is expecting it, it's going to be panic time. Genuine panic time for what gets cut so they can desperately try to get things out.

 

[Nick]

I'll add an amendum, however.

If Don't Worry Darling and Black Adam fail to do what WB is expecting it, it's going to be panic time. Genuine panic time for what gets cut so they can desperately try to get things out.

I don't know what they are expecting from Don't Worry Darling, but it's going to be hard to get much with RT scores as low as they are and Avatar taking up so many screens this weekend. Avatar has all premium screens pretty much this weekend. Black Adam should do well though.

This is a project that went through production hell from what it sounds like and was from the prior regime, also. Disney put out a lot of those Fox movies that they ended up losing a lot of money on, but they didn't go and sell Fox because of that.

We shouldn't be so quick to jump the gun and expect them to sell. May I remind you all that this is all based on speculation because Comcast is gonna get many billions from selling Hulu..... in 2024. There's no actual rumor here.

 

[Nico]

In this rumor, I think WB gets spun off and sold. Discovery remains Discovery, just with more money in their pocket. Otherwise, what’s the point of “flipping it.”

 

[Nick]

In this rumor, I think WB gets spun off and sold. Discovery remains Discovery, just with more money in their pocket. Otherwise, what’s the point of “flipping it.”

Let's go back to the THR article that all of this speculation stemmed from:

Warner Bros. Discovery Has Bigger Problems Than Its DC Search

The film studio’s hunt for its own Kevin Feige may be complicated by key questions about what’s next for the heavily indebted company — and whether another major deal is on the horizon.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

As @AlexanderMBush said at the time:

THR is reporting that multiple people are believing, that Comcast will be taking the initiative to spin off NBCUniversal and combine it with Warner Bros. Discovery. And one is believing that Brian Roberts may look to take to the initative by 2024, once they can properly make the move.

This is a lot of speculation based on the money that NBCUniversal stands to make from the sale of Hulu in 2024. There is absolutely no solid rumor here at all and certainly no one saying that WBD is looking to sell for sure, just that NBCUniversal might be interested in 2024 or so. Maybe. If the price is right.

That still means that there's plenty of time for WBD's stock to make gains and for Comcast to no longer have an interest in it, never mind for WBD to even be interested in selling. I'm just saying, this is speculation, not rumor and I want that to be clear and it's still years away supposedly even if it were to happen and anything can happen between now and 2024.

I'm not saying this is not going to happen by the way, i'm just saying that legally a sale CAN'T happen until at least April 2024. That's plenty of time for things to change. If it did happen though, Universal and Disney would basically be the only major players in Hollywood, and that's a shame. It would also be a shame if Zaslav was literally using an iconic studio for him to play a high stakes game of Flip or Flop with.

 

[MrBlonde]

It would also be a shame is Zaslav was literally using an iconic studio for him to play a high stakes game of Flip or Flop with.

That’s a cheap reality show so Zaslav must love that analogy.
I checked the MCA agreement I found online and I don’t see any significant provisions about exclusivity of these characters vs other comic book characters. I am not a lawyer so not legal advice, etc. but as long as the DC stuff is significantly separated (I.e. I wouldn’t have any cross pollination at IOA since Marvel could have the argument that having DC there dilutes the brand and confuses consumer with what characters are part of what IP.) I don’t see why that agreement shown precludes them from using DC at another part of the resort. Marvel Agreement between MCA Inc. and Marvel Entertainment Group

David Zaslav feels like a robber baron at this point and it’s been horrifying watch a historic studio breaking down to most profitable pieces. AT&T may have been not the best corporate parent, but least it didn’t look like everything was a number and still had decent autonomy and was trying to be an active player. The value destruction has been insane especially when it’s had HP, DC, and horror as major buoys to prop it up. I don’t get it.

 

[GAcoaster]

There is just so much that Time Warner owns which is ripe for development. Under Bob Pitman when TW owned Six Flags they were on their way to developing next level attractions for the parks and there were so many ideas proposed. Having control of the TW library would just be huge for the parks and for Comcast in general.

 

[JoeCamel]

There is just so much that Time Warner owns which is ripe for development. Under Bob Pitman when TW owned Six Flags they were on their way to developing next level attractions for the parks and there were so many ideas proposed. Having control of the TW library would just be huge for the parks and for Comcast in general.

Gone with the wind - the ride

 

[SeventyOne]

I'm not really sure about how legal it would be for them to have both MSHI and a DC Land based on the original contract that was signed to get Marvel. When I say that I mean I genuinely have no idea and would be interested in finding out the answer.

I checked the MCA agreement I found online and I don’t see any significant provisions about exclusivity of these characters vs other comic book characters. I am not a lawyer so not legal advice, etc. but as long as the DC stuff is significantly separated (I.e. I wouldn’t have any cross pollination at IOA since Marvel could have the argument that having DC there dilutes the brand and confuses consumer with what characters are part of what IP.) I don’t see why that agreement shown precludes them from using DC at another part of the resort. Marvel Agreement between MCA Inc. and Marvel Entertainment Group

I vaguely remember checking years ago and being surprised there was no obvious no-compete clause.May be as simple as no one at the time conceived of UOR being willing/able to ever get DC characters after Six Flags was bought up.

That said I imagine Disney would seize on any change in circumstances to try to get out of the contract. Just because it's not explicitly in there, TWDC could no doubt make a solid case of bad faith or something like that.

...

Unrelated but apparently the rights to LotR are a mess. This would be one step closer to being able to use Jackson's films but hardly a lock.

 

[Mad Dog]

It's always seemed to me that DC is more popular with the hard core internet theme park fans then it is with the general public. I doubt the GP gives a damn about DC. A minor IP issue at best. It sure hasn't done much to help Six Flags.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

It's always seemed to me that DC is more popular with the hard core internet theme park fans then it is with the general public. I doubt the GP gives a damn about DC. A minor IP issue at best. It sure hasn't done much to help Six Flags.

I'd argue on this--as DC is a brand that hasn't really been handled the right way. Be that by WBP/DCFilms, or by SFCorp.

That said and I do feel the need to ask this..wouldn't NBCU get the original likenesses for that of the 1939 Wizard of Oz? Assuming if they'd be serious and go for this.

 

[Mad Dog]

I

I'd argue on this--as DC is a brand that hasn't really been handled the right way. Be that by WBP/DCFilms, or by SFCorp.

That said and I do feel the need to ask this..wouldn't NBCU get the original likenesses for that of the 1939 Wizard of Oz? Assuming if they'd be serious and go for this.

I grew up with Marvel's Silver Age (60's/70's) Back then Marvel was all the rage with college kids. DC, with it's corny stories, was the brand of little kids , not unlike Archie comics. Marvel
stories were real society/culture oriented. (Note: I have over 4,000 Marvels from the 60's, 70's 80's early 90's. I have a few dozen or so DC comics)Though DC tried to upgrade their storyline over the decades, their heroes and stories never approached Marvel. DC's performance has never achieved the success that it's ribald internet community imagines it to be. Let DC rest in piece. Marvel remains one of the crown jewel of theme parks. Universal should never give it up for
the vastly inferior DC world.