Remember 2017 when it was announced there would be an acquisition by Disney of 21st Century Fox? It was completed in 2019, and Disney now has the rights to several fictional characters from the Marvel Universe. This is the most important thing that Disney has done, but it has only acquired a small amount of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball rights. This article will give you all details about this topic.
In 2019, Disney acquired all assets owned by Fox when the Disney/Fox merger was completed. Disney also acquired rights to a part of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise Dragon Ball Z. But, only in terms live-action movie production and distribution. Toriyama and his Japanese publisher still own everything else.
This article will cover both the artistic and business sides of this transaction. We’ll tell you everything that happened, how it happened, and how Toriyama’s Dragon Ball was connected to the acquisition. We will also explain what this acquisition means for Disney and Dragon Ball.
Disney has bought the rights Dragon Ball.
The Walt Disney Company made public its intention to acquire a majority stake in 21st Century Fox’s assets in December 2017. On March 20, 2019, the transaction was complete with the dissolution 21st Century Fox and the acquisition by Disney of several assets. Fox Corporation was also created. Additionally, several sales were made to other companies to gain the consent of the international anticompetitive committees.
Disney paid 71.3 billion dollars for the transaction. From that amount, Disney must subtract the amounts derived from constrained sales. Disney acquired the main assets of 20th Century Fox, FX and Fox Networks Group, as well as 73% of National Geographic Partners, Star India (and 30%) and FX (20th Century Fox).
Fox Corporation is Fox Broadcasting Company. Fox Television Stations. Fox News Channel. Fox Business Network. Fox Deportes. Fox Deportes. Fox Television Stations. Fox Television Stations. Fox Television Stations. Fox Television Stations. Fox News Channel. Fox Business Network. Fox Deportes. Fox Deportes. Fox Deportes. Sky to Comcast, Fox Sports Net and Sinclair Broadcast Group are the principal assets.
You may recall that this was an industry landmark a few years back. It is well-known that Disney acquired the rights for the X-Men & the Fantastic Four. This was a huge step forward for the MCU and other major projects, such as The Simpsons. There was also something that could be important for anime lovers in this merger.
Fox had the rights to the Dragon Ball original live-action movie and the rights of producing and distributing Dragon Ball movies at the time. Fox had no rights to anime. Disney purchased all Fox assets and gave the Mouse the rights to produce live action Dragon Ballmovies.
While this could potentially be a huge thing for the franchise’s future as Disney might choose to concentrate on Toriyama’s series, there is a catch. Akira Toriyama believed that the fans deserved an apology after the original Dragon Ball live-action movie was released. The anime series was revived by Akira Toriyama with a feature-length movie.
We now have the story. Let us discuss the future.
Disney will make new Dragon Ball movie?
Disney has not yet released any information about the future of Dragon Ball franchise, as it is subject to its ownership rights. We have already explained that Disney only has a small portion of Toriyama’s franchise and can therefore not do anything except produce live-action films. But what about the future?
This rumor actually first surfaced on the Instagram account of ultraraw26. According to his insight, Disney intends to launch a live-action Dragon Ball film universe that would follow Goku from his childhood until his adulthood. Although there are rumors that Toriyama might agree, after the failed first Dragon Ball film, we don’t know. We do believe he will, but not quickly. Another factor is that anime series are not always good in live action formats. Dragon Ball has been one of those great franchises that requires either a proper or no treatment.
It is not certain that Disney will achieve the same level of success as the MCU. Dragon Ball creates a unique world that is very much in line with Tolkien’s Middle Earth. It is more rigid than Marvel’s comics. There is not much space for experiments or novelties. Disney is known to love to do this (and not always in a good way). You will also be subject to censorship, which will definitely limit your ideas.
It’s not known what Disney’s Dragon Ball franchise will look like in the future. They are not yet certain if they will be able to revive the live-action franchise, as that is all they have the ability to do. However, if they do it, they’ll face a very difficult task. In all honesty, however, we don’t believe a live action Disney Dragon Ball movie is what the franchise needs at the moment.
