Fox Could Sell Entertainment Assets To Disney (And What That Means For Star Wars)
If you’re a Star Wars fan born before 2005, you might remember that the old Twentieth Century Fox fanfare played before every movie made up until then and how it nicely it segued into the iconic Opening Crawl composed by John Williams. That went away with the Disney purchase (unless you’re watching A New Hope), and now it’s entirely possible that it might go away from a number of new movies that will be released in the next few years, as Fox is reportedly mulling over selling many of their entertainment assets to Disney and potentially other buyers.
Why Fox (Seemingly) Wants Out Of The Entertainment Industry
As it stands in Hollywood, it’s really a world populated by three major studios at this point – Disney, Warner Brothers, and Universal Pictures – and everyone else just happens to be living in it. Two of Hollywood’s other major players have suffered significantly in recent years and are in desperate need of more reliable hits: Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Twentieth Century Fox, in the meantime, occupies a position where it’s safely above the latter two studios but still below the former three in recent years. And from the sound of things, fourth place simply isn’t good enough for News Corp mogul Rupert Murdoch and his heirs. On November 6, 2017, CNBC released a report revealing that Fox did, in fact, speak with Disney about the possibility of a future sale of several pieces of the Twenty-First Century Fox, as the company is looking to sell its assets to multiple buyers. What movie and television franchises are particularly up for grabs are not clear at this time, but Fox intends to keep its broadcasting network (which Disney cannot buy, as they already own the broadcasting network of ABC) and will absolutely be keeping their news and sports platforms as their focus shifts toward online and televised coverage of those things. Disney, in the meantime, would be set to gain Fox-owned networks like BSkyB, FX, NatGeo, and Star.
This report came out of absolutely nowhere and Fox’s share prices shot up significantly when word got out. Representatives of Disney and Fox alike refused to comment. CNBC would go on to explain that reason given was that Fox was looking for a way to shift focus away from entertainment and more toward sports and news coverage, and a follow-up report from the same website suggested that this decision had to do with Murdoch not seeing Fox as being unable to transform into the kind of media empire that Disney has become in the conceivable future. It’s also likely that Murdoch would want to “cash out” while his company is still successful in the current box office market (which has been lagging for a multitude of reasons) to save face for his company, making sure that they don’t fall into the same pratfalls that have kept Sony and Paramount down. There’s also a matter of the rise of streaming platforms and digital distribution, which have led to declining theater viewership and lower television ratings alike.
It should be noted that this deal is currently not being discussed with Disney (as Bloomberg wrote, the talks are currently “dead”) – but by the nature of this business, talks can go on and off at short notice. And, of course, keep in mind that Disney is not the only buyer that Fox representatives have spoken with, or intend to speak with. Or the fact that there would surely be discussions about antitrust laws and all that jazz with such a sizable purchase to prevent Disney from (fully) becoming a monopoly. Still, if Fox-Disney talks resume, then it presents a few interesting opportunities for the house that Mickey built.
What This Would Mean For Disney
As far as Star Wars goes, this hypothetical purchase has surprisingly little to offer them. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head that Fox has that Disney might want are the distribution rights to A New Hope, which are set to remain at the studio indefinitely as a result of George Lucas’s financial demands at the time. (Lucas could have produced the other Star Wars movies at other studios, but he stuck with Fox for two trilogies out of brand loyalty.) If Disney were to get the distribution rights, that would make their lives a whole lot easier when it comes to coming up with future box sets of the franchise – and they can make just that much more money off of the packages if A New Hope is all theirs. Virtually everything else is incredibly minor and are effectively peanuts to Disney. (And before you ask – no, this does not mean that Lucasfilm will suddenly choose to create official hi-def restorations of the OT movies as they originally appeared, because Uncle George doesn’t want that to happen. Quit trying to make that happen. It’s not going to happen.)
As far as franchises go, the real crown jewel that Disney would likely go after would be the Marvel Universe properties that were licensed to Fox. Marvel sold these licenses back in the 1990s for big prices when they nearly went bankrupt, and these included clauses. Most licenses that were sold resulted in projects that were never realized, while others eventually reverted over time and have been integrated into the wildly-successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. The company has even managed to get a bit of leeway with some of the licenses that they don’t fully control, as the rights to distribute the Hulk standalone films remain at Universal (which is why there haven’t been any new ones since 2008) and an agreement with Sony Pictures to include Spider-Man in certain ensemble movies in the setting, along with helping to relaunch the character’s standalone film franchise after prior installments presented the company with diminishing returns.
That brings us to Fox, who have been known to be less cooperative than the other companies that Marvel have had to negotiate with. Fox used to own the rights to Daredevil – and Marvel did offer them an extension in exchange for the rights to Silver Surfer and Galactus, which Fox ultimately turned down – but those reverted after a long period of inactivity with the franchise and Marvel created an excellent television series with Netflix that serves as the cornerstone of their line of Marvel shows. Far more valuable than Daredevil are two other major components to the Marvel Universe – the Fantastic Four and X-Men. Fox has boosted efforts on creating new movies for both franchises following the success of The Avengers, resulting in the abysmal Fant4stic and several X-Men movies (most of which have been good). Of these two, it seems as though Fox would be more willing to part with the Fantastic Four, but it seemed as though their plans were to keep making X-Men movies indefinitely… Until this news got out, throwing things into question.
Franchises aside, another big reason why Disney might be interested in buying a big slice of Fox’s pie is that Disney has a big streaming service that they want to launch in two years. Using media from Fox’s own embarrassment of riches might help bring in binge-watchers who are otherwise on-the-fence about starting up payments from yet another subscription. But with that in mind, there are likely going to be some restrictions on what kind of content Disney would want on their service.
Disney Might Not Want Everything Fox Is Selling
It’s already been established that the initial version of the talks with Fox – which appeared to be an all-or-nothing agreement – fell through. The reason why I think that this might be the case is that there are some intellectual properties that Fox has that don’t fit with Disney’s image. Case in point – Alien, that franchise about the Freudian space critters stalk and violently mutilate people. Not exactly the kind of thing you would imagine a Disneyland worker hop into a costume to meet and greet fans. And there’s certainly no use in just sitting on a great IP, as it probably didn’t look good to Fox when they saw that Marvel made a better Daredevil adaptation than they ever could, which is why Fant4stic even exists (and lordy, I wish it didn’t). So Disney might not be interested in purchasing that IP if they’re not going to do anything with it.
A good counterpoint I’d like to raise here is that Disney could, theoretically, use the new resources and IPs from Fox to start up a separate imprint akin to what they did with Miramax and Touchstone, which they could use to produce R-rated and otherwise family-unfriendly content to prevent tainting their squeaky-clean “all ages” image. They’ve shown that they’re willing to let Marvel and Lucasfilm push boundaries as far as their movies go (as neither have been truly “Disneyfied”, and interestingly, Disney logos are absent from both sets of films). This would mean that they could use their greater reach to produce more movies annually and appeal to an audience that isn’t necessarily interested in most of their usual offerings, potentially increasing profit without having to commit to ridiculously high amounts of money for these projects.
Right now, however, I think it’s likely that Disney will make another pass to pick up at least some of the sweet IP real estate from Fox – specifically, the brands that concern them, which are the two I mentioned above and potentially Avatar (which would tie in quite nicely if they want to keep doing expansions for their Pandora-themed expansion to Disney World’s Animal Kingdom). But who knows what the future holds…?
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
Seriously, does Disney have to buy everything?? Fox’s Star Wars DVD/Blu-ray releases were excellent with heaps of effort put into them. Disney has been putting hardly any effort into theirs.
In a sense, yes. Bob Iger’s business model is Market capitalisation built on acquisitions, and he’s contracted to remain their CEO until 2019.
To be fair, can you really blame Disney if Fox was the one that approached them in this case?
– Pomojema
Lucasfilm produced both of those DVDs. Fox was simply the distributor, just like the theatrical releases.
“Disney Might Not Want Everything Fox Is Selling”
Explains why Ridley Scott all-of-a-sudden started kissing Paramount’s ass a few weeks ago.
What did he say?
(On another note… Gotta light?)
– Pomojema
It was specifically aimed at Star Trek:
“You change over time. At that point I had no interest in ever doing a
sequel, that’s why I never did a sequel to Alien for another 20 years,
and then I thought ‘Do you know what, I’d better go back to this.’
Because I’d done two science fiction [films], Alien and Blade Runner,
and I felt that that was it. That’s enough science fiction for a career.
And of course, I never realized that the awakening of the science
fiction universe, over many, many films, would get so large. You can’t
thank Star Wars for that, you can thank, God bless them, Star Trek.
You’ve got all that. It’s evolved and made another form of
entertainment.”
The possibility of the X-Men and Fantastic 4 appearing in the MCU is why this rumor has me excited. Dear lord, If Marvel can get all of their characters back that’s gonna open so many doors.
At this point, the MCU has too many characters. If Disney makes X-Men and f4 movies, I want them to stay separate from the MCU. Unless phase 4 opens up some kind of opening, they shouldn’t mix.
the current crew isn’t going to be around forever. adding in new blood would help marvel survive the inevitable loss of RDJ and chris evans a lot easier.
Let’s see how ‘infinity war’ plays out.. a lot of people are gonna leave after it’s released. I believe phase 4 is gonna have a lot of room for new people.
I would be excited but every MCU movie has stunk this year. GOTG and Ragnarok do not even seem like real movies at all more like a how many one liners and quips can we fit into our run time. Homecoming was okay but did not hold up at all in my second viewing.
Haven’t seen Ragnarok yet, but I wasn’t a big fan of GOTG v.2 I felt like they were trying too hard to top the first one.
Have to agree. I know the consensus seems to be that vol 2 was better, and I didn’t think it was BAD…but I loved vol 1 more.
I would absolutely love to see Mickey Mouse sucking on a Facehugger and Minnie plastered to the walls with Alien goo, awaiting a chestbursting parasite from within.
So long, TCF, it’s been a good ride. Better save those soundtracks with the John Williams intros, they may be worth something someday.
THEATRICAL EDITIONS!!!!!
Like I said… Never gonna happen. Enjoy the Despecialized Editions if you can find ’em.
– Pomojema
I found them, and I enjoy them immensely. However, I would love to throw some more money at Lucasfilm to show them my appreciation,
I really don’t think Fox has anything to do with those, honestly. It’s all George Lucas.
– Pomojema
You’d have to convince his kids to convince him. If he listens to any voice of reason at all, I’d suppose it would be them.
Thank you for reiterating this Pomojema. I’m a little tired of people demanding the original OTs. Watch your VHS guys.
ahem, VHS is for plebs. laser disk all the way. 😉
They are out there, and so are the Silver Screen editions and the Theatrical Cut editions, all in torrents, no need for an official one
I honestly don’t care one way or the other — I have the last theatrical DVD releases, I have the VHSes, I have the Internet. But lord, your arrogance is grating. You’re a guy on the Internet who is pretending to have insider knowledge he doesn’t have. Why not just admit you have no more idea of what Disney can and can’t do with their IP than anyone else sitting at a keyboard? It won’t make people respect you less.
Well, Pablo Hidalgo just said so…
https://twitter.com/pablohidalgo/status/941331945308405760
Kathleen Kennedy has also signaled that they don’t have any intent to change the existing films, either. George Lucas has a huge stake in Disney in terms of shares, so there’s also that to keep in mind.
– Pomojema
I am probably going to piss of a lot of fans, but I am indifferent towards the original cuts and special editions. Do not mistake me; I watched those original cuts when I was a child. My uncle had those tapes and I very much loved watching them.
But really, while I have issues with those films in the CGI, I never really cared. I get that perhaps it is me not growing up seeing SWs in theaters, the OT, but that is how I honestly feel.
That said, I do think it is utterly dickish of GL to not release those cuts. So what if they weren’t your original vision? Just release both takes of those movies. Because, really; I may not care for those movies, but I know plenty of people do care.
And I can respect/ acknowledge that.
I’m with you. There are enough good changes for the blu ray release that overall its a mixed bag that didn’t bother me much at all
We’ll rendezvous back here in a decade…when I can tell you ‘told you so’ over a freshly squeezed box set of unaltered OT films 🙂
I’m counting down the days already 😉
“(And before you ask – no, this does not mean that Lucasfilm will
suddenly choose to create official hi-def restorations of the OT movies
as they originally appeared, because Uncle George doesn’t want that to
happen. Quit trying to make that happen. It’s not going to happen.)”
to be fair, uncle george didn’t want to make episode seven either. you got to figure if they can hash out the rights issue that iger could sell george on a release of the original(or as close as we can get) version. it doesn’t have to replace the special editions, just be an addition. money talks after all.
George Lucas has said multiple things about his plans and non-plans for the Sequel Trilogy. The truth is that his vision is something that’s changed with him. He eventually settled on “I don’t have plans to direct any more of these” and then wrote some story ideas and concepts down for other filmmakers to use as a frame of reference.
– Pomojema
His version of events has changed so many times over the decades it’s almost impossible to take most of what he’s said about the franchise at face value.
But the point is that a Sequel Trilogy is something that was on the cards as part of his initial vision. Whereas he’s *never* stated plans, even in the slightest, to release restorations of his original, unaltered movies. You might as well ask for a THX-1138 remaster without the CGI he added later.
– Pomojema
It was, then he goes on 60 minutes and says the exact opposite. How it was never in cards and would never happen. My point is that all that changed once Disney dropped a truckload of cash on his lawn. If he can backpedal on new films he can backpedal on original editions.
He. Doesn’t. Want. The. Original. Versions. Out. There.
He’s flipped on stuff creatively, but him sticking to his guns about not doing remastered versions is the one thing he’s been completely consistent on.
– Pomojema
if that was true, then he wouldn’t have allowed the supplementary inclusion of the original-ish versions with the special editions in the 2005(or maybe ’06?) dvd box set. everything lucas has ever said or done in his professional life has been contradicted or undercut by something else he’s said or done. you’re very likely to be correct that it won’t happen, but saying its because he’s been consistent on this issue isn’t accurate.
The “Restored” DVDs were a rush-job based on the Laserdisc version. Few were made and they didn’t sell well, and they only seemed to be put out there so GL could say “There, I did it. Now leave me alone.” – which, knowing this fandom, didn’t work.
He very easily could have had an actual remaster made then and there – but he didn’t. In hindsight, I feel as though it was more of a demonstration on his part to suggest that his revised versions of the movies are superior, which is a sentiment that’s contentious as far as hardcore *Star Wars* fans are concerned.
– Pomojema
i think we’ve reached an impasse, but i’ve enjoyed the debate. 🙂
Also to be fair, George has clearly been dissapointed by what Disney is doing with SW. I’d say that’s a pretty clear indication that in regards to what he wants they basically told him “that’s nice George, here’s your cash – why don’t you run along now?” instead of this impression some people seem to have that he laid all kinds of conditions on Disney that they’re beholden to. I don’t buy it.
Indeed. It is interesting that he would supposedly fight so hard to bury the original versions but not for his vision of new trilogy. Maybe he is just that eccentric.
Indeed. It is interesting that he would supposedly fight so hard to bury the original versions but not for his vision of new trilogy. Maybe he is just that eccentric.
I thought George was a big fan of Rogue One?
Disney would own 20th Century Fox and its IPs.
And just like Lucas Film, it would keep it a separate entity to house those IPs.
Why wouldn’t Disney want Alien, or Predator? Their name isn’t going to be on the films. 20th Century Fox’s will. They’ll take what they need to from those IPs, such as the Marvel stuff, and pass them onto Marvel Studios.
Owning a Studio doesn’t mean it would be deconstructed and disbanded.
Only the Sith deal in absolutes, Grant Davis (Pomojema) of starwarsnewnet.com… It’s only a matter of time before the unaltered versions of the original Star Wars Trilogy are released.. It might be soon if the purchase happens, or it might be in 20-30 years…or more.
They’re respecting his wishes to not re-release the old versions, and I seriously doubt that there’s enough financial incentive for them to go through all that trouble to appease a vocal minority. Them’s the breaks – I’ve heard the “it’s only a matter of time” thing for decades.
– Pomojema
“Uncle George doesn’t want that to happen. Quit trying to make that happen. It’s not going to happen.”
What Uncle George wants is irrelevant. He sold the franchise away. Unless he made a stipulation in the sale agreement prohibiting the re-release of the theatrical versions, nothing is stopping Disney from putting them out if a deal can be reached with Fox for distribution of A New Hope.
“What Uncle George wants is irrelevant. He sold the franchise away.”
If you think that Lucasfilm couldn’t care less about his wishes for the franchise, then you clearly don’t understand why he hired the people who are currently in power Lucasfilm – or why they, and not some number-crunching executive at Disney who couldn’t tell the difference between Star Wars or Star Trek to save their lives, are calling the shots.
Lucas had fifteen years to re-release the remastered versions of the OT and he chose not to. Disney has had five years to even announce remastered editions and they haven’t, with all signs pointing to them not bothering with that because they have better things to do.
The fact of the matter is that they’re not coming officially, and if they somehow change their minds about this, then it won’t be for a very long time. I should know – this whole controversy is only a few years younger than I am.
– Pomojema
It’s also really hard to estimate how many people are actually begging for this release. If they did release the remastered versions Lucasfilm may be underwhelmed by sales. A lot of Star Wars fans already own multiple versions of the films. I personally own at least two copies of every movie and it may not be worth another 80-100 dollars to get the original versions for some people.
There is some truth to this. I talk to a lot of Star Wars fans. Most all would love to see theatrical OT editions. But I also talk to a lot of casual fans and other people that, while not necessarily fans, like the movies enough. Few of them ever bring this up. And a lot of younger fans have very little interest in what the movies looked like when they first hit theaters.
Being someone that would love to see this happen, it’s an odd idea to get my head around. But it’s also, ultimately, realistic.
Exactly – considering they already exist online. its a niche market that just wouldn’t bring a big return.
Look what happened to George Lucas’ story treatments for the sequel trilogy. They were immediately thrown in the trash. That may have been for the best, but it shows that they aren’t that interested in what George Lucas’ wishes for the franchise are.
“Look what happened to George Lucas’ story treatments for the sequel trilogy. They were immediately thrown in the trash.”
Which is what he said. But we now know that isn’t truthful. The story arc for Rey, for instance, was said to be his idea by one of the Lucasfilm Story Group’s higher-ups. The idea they rejected was just making the new characters under the age of 18. We won’t know just how much his ideas influenced the Sequel Trilogy until much later from now, but don’t think that they just ignored every idea he had.
– Pomojema
I Do think that eventually there will be some version of the unaltered OT that is sold similar to the DVDs, but I don’t think it will be soon. Kathleen K respects lucas’ wishes and either won’t (or can’t if george put that in the sale contract which I bet he did) release the unaltered version. I’ve heard it rumored so many times now. If they weren’t going to release it to get people hyped for episode 7 or for the anniversary, then they likely aren’t pursuings such a release with much intensity
“Uncle George doesn’t want that to happen. Quit trying to make that happen. It’s not going to happen.”
Never will I give up the fight… and this is also one of the reasons I don’t hold Lucas in any high regard. I thank him for the OT and that’s about it. Even from a historical/artistic standpoint a high quality unaltered version would make sense. The passion still burns after all these decades.
Only one way to resolve this original trilogy remastered theatrical release debate, Resistance Broadcast weekly Twitter poll.
“Quit trying to make that happen. It’s not going to happen.”
Defeatist much?
Not defeatist, just rational.
– Pomojema
Disney, forget about all that other expensive crap, just buy the fanfare!!!! the opening crawl sounds so naked with out it.
Great article. I’ve lost faith in the ever seeing the OT without the changes too. George must have an agreement with Kathleen Kennedy before they deal with Disney happened.
“George must have an agreement with Kathleen Kennedy before they deal with Disney happened.”
I’d be surprised if that wasn’t the case. Lucas didn’t have to sell to Disney. I’m sure he was able to dictate several specifics as part of the deal. I doubt we’ll ever see an official release of the Holiday Special; probably not an original theatrical release of the OT either.
Yeah, didn’t Lucas call Disney “white slavers” in an interview once. With that attitude there’s no way he would allow Disney to dictate anything in regards to the OT
He did, but only after the sale, and after seeing that what they were doing wasn’t what he would have done with the franchise. That right there says Disney isn’t beholden to anything Lucas may or may not have wanted.
I’ve made this argument before, but I’ll make it again – there is just no way that Disney…DISNEY for chrissakes…paid $4b NOT to be allowed to do whatever the hell they want with their purchase. The rumors have been floating for a couple of years that they’ve had another restoration and scan of at least SW done (which only would have made sense given the O-neg is falling apart every day that goes by), and I have to believe the main reason we haven’t seen it yet is that a) they don’t want to take focus off the new films b) the need to sort out a distribution deal with Fox and c) they’re waiting to see what happens with 4k before doing a massive release, possibly after the current trilogy is wrapped up and on a non-movie year. Lucas not wanting it, whether that’s even true or not (and I think there’s been some speculation as to if we ever would have seen an SE, if releasing the unaltered films hadn’t also meant Marcia Lucas got a big chunk of the profits), I have to believe might play some notional “we don’t want to offend him” role…but that’s not going to last forever.
Perhaps. You provide some solid reasons for why Disney might not be ready to release the theatrical OT. Still, if delaying or outright forbidding their release was part of the agreement that Lucas had with Disney, then there’s not much they could do about it.
Would Disney pay 4 billion dollars for a franchise even without the ability to release the OT in its original, theatrical form? Sure. Without a doubt. It’s a bargain at twice the price.
I’m not an enthusiastic fan of the Special Editions. I’d love to see these movies released in their original form. But until there’s an original release, there are are options for watching them.
I hope not, for the sake of creativity, one big, fat company should not own all entertainment. Just check what Disney did to the L.A. Times just a week ago…
who cares about the LA Times it’s a junk paper anyway.
I love Star Wars more than any other franchise…but honestly, all that I can think about with this news is how much I want to see the X-Men team up with the freakin’ Avengers while Reed Richards tries to solve everything. 🙂
**Thud**
Does no one remember that one of the attractions at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World used to be the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter? Right there across the lake from Cinderella Castle was a fairly scary simulation. I don’t think Disney cares about the violence in the movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExtraTERRORestrial_Alien_Encounter
Now, Deadpool might be an entirely different story.
“And before you ask – no, this does not mean that Lucasfilm will suddenly choose to create official hi-def restorations of the OT movies as they originally appeared, because Uncle George doesn’t want that to happen. Quit trying to make that happen. It’s not going to happen.”
.
Except for two, rather crucial points. First, rumor is it was already done a couple of years ago. Which only makes sense given the state of the O-neg. No matter WHAT their plans, the current masters are what, 20 years old now? And awful. They’re low resolution by current standards, and release after release has shown that the horrendous colour compression, clipped whites and crushed blacks are baked into them. If Disney wants to be able to sell the OT in 4k or whatever comes next, they HAVE to create a new master, no two ways about it. Second, releasing the SE on any new home-video format is going to necessitate either redoing ALL of the SE additions, because they were all created at 1080p, rendered at 1080p, and dropped into the film at 1080p, or tossing all of it and just releasing something based on a new master from restored negs and call it a day.
I can imagine that there are official restorations in place… But I don’t see them seeing the light of day in the current environment. I’d sooner believe that they’d use the restorations for remasters of the non-altered scenes in the Special Editions whenever there’s a spicy new format to put these movies on.
– Pomojema
So hard for us fans to let this go…..I will be SHOCKED if we ever see new official hi-def restorations of the original OT. It may happen, but I will be incredibly surprised if it does. And honestly, are they really that great overall? I mean, to me it seems all about nostalgia. So much emotional interest invested in what blew our minds at 8 years old. Some of the Special Edition modifications actually were improvements (the die-hards will never accept this, but anyone with an objective mind will be open to the possiblility) while other changes were downright awkward and head-scratching. Never forget, this is B-movie fare about space wizards. Space Wizards! And we act like it’s more important and influential than Shakespeare.
The new idea is that News Corp could sell Fox in pieces… the studio properties and offices could be sold to the other major studios, and each IP sold separately.
Disney would likely buy all rights to ANH. But Fantastic Four and X-Men rights would be sold separately, too, and it’s not a guarantee that Disney could be able to buy both or either. I don’t think it’s out of the question for another buyer to up the ante: Imagine if Netflix managed to buy the FF rights. That would put them into an advantage over Disney who want to gradually pull out of their deal with Netflix over their Marvel shows.
As for Fox’s other IP: Alien, Predator, Planet of the Apes. I could see any of these fitting well with Warner Bros. or Sony. Or, Legendary Pictures with their Chinese partners sounds like a good fit — Legendary holds the rights to Godzilla, Kong and Pacific Rim. (In fact, I could also see Legendary and their partners buying the Fox studios in LA. Legendary would then become Legendary Studios… or maybe they would just keep the Fox name.)
The bottom line is that News Corp is interested in selling off Fox, and in this process Disney would most likely get all rights to ANH. But the ownership to FF and X-Men isn’t guaranteed to go to Disney.
And Fox studios may still exist — it would just change ownership, unless the new owner (e.g. Legendary) wants to change its name.
News flash Ryan Johnson is getting his own Trilogy check starwars.com for details.