Post by Admin on Mar 3, 2023 3:49:15 GMT
www.cbr.com/marvel-hulk-rights-namor-disney-sell-hulu/
Marvel Has One Path to Regain Full Hulk, Namor Rights, Analyst Believes
BY
BRADEN YANDLE
A stock market analyst from Citibank, one of The Walt Disney Company’s financial backers, proposed a unique swap to bring the full distribution rights for the Incredible Hulk and Namor the Sub-Mariner back under Marvel’s roof.
In an interview covered by The Wrap, a Wall Street analyst for Citi, Jason Bazinet, predicted that terms agreed to in Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox and its assets in 2019 could lead to the return of the rights for two wayward Marvel superheroes: Hulk and Namor. “While Disney owns all Marvel IP, Universal has distribution rights to Hulk and Namor,” Bazinet explained. “If Disney makes a Hulk or Namor film, Comcast can distribute the film on Peacock. If Hulu is sold, Disney may use this... opportunity to secure these distribution rights.”
Hulu was founded in 2007 to compete with Netflix’s online streaming service, and in 2009 Disney joined Comcast and News Corp (Fox Corporation’s sister company) as a stakeholder in the streaming service to distribute Disney-owned IP from ABC, ESPN and the Discovery Channel. In 2017 Disney announced its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which gave Disney a 67% stake in Hulu after absorbing News Corp’s shares when the deal was finalized in 2019 for 71.3 billion dollars.
Business Deals of Disney and Marvel
Bazinet speculates that instead of fully acquiring Hulu, Disney may try to shed its ownership in the service in exchange for something more valuable: assets Marvel sold to stay afloat after the company was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1996. In 2003 director Ang Lee made the live-action Hulk film starring Eric Bana as Bruce Banner for NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. NBCUniversal failed to release a sequel to the standalone film, and the rights to Hulk’s IP returned to Marvel, but not distribution rights. The same is true of Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Disney has not indicated that the company will pursue the distribution rights to the two characters. Still, Bazinet conjectures, "Following fiscal 1Q23 results, we believe [Disney] is less interested in a mass market [direct-to-consumer] offering. This raises the possibility that Disney may sell its Hulu stake." Bazinet estimated that if such a sale occurred, Disney would like to price its stake in Hulu between 19.8 and 27.5 billion dollars. Hulu’s average revenue per user (ARPU) was $12.46 in the fourth quarter of 2022, trailing Netflix’s with $16.23 and outpacing Disney+, which ended with $5.95.
Bazinet postulated a "wide range of outcomes" for the corporation, from selling its Hulu stock to combining Disney+ and Hulu into one streaming service. He suggested that Disney’s $97.66 share price could drop by $3 or increase by $13, depending on the company's decision in 2024.
Marvel Has One Path to Regain Full Hulk, Namor Rights, Analyst Believes
BY
BRADEN YANDLE
A stock market analyst from Citibank, one of The Walt Disney Company’s financial backers, proposed a unique swap to bring the full distribution rights for the Incredible Hulk and Namor the Sub-Mariner back under Marvel’s roof.
In an interview covered by The Wrap, a Wall Street analyst for Citi, Jason Bazinet, predicted that terms agreed to in Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox and its assets in 2019 could lead to the return of the rights for two wayward Marvel superheroes: Hulk and Namor. “While Disney owns all Marvel IP, Universal has distribution rights to Hulk and Namor,” Bazinet explained. “If Disney makes a Hulk or Namor film, Comcast can distribute the film on Peacock. If Hulu is sold, Disney may use this... opportunity to secure these distribution rights.”
Hulu was founded in 2007 to compete with Netflix’s online streaming service, and in 2009 Disney joined Comcast and News Corp (Fox Corporation’s sister company) as a stakeholder in the streaming service to distribute Disney-owned IP from ABC, ESPN and the Discovery Channel. In 2017 Disney announced its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which gave Disney a 67% stake in Hulu after absorbing News Corp’s shares when the deal was finalized in 2019 for 71.3 billion dollars.
Business Deals of Disney and Marvel
Bazinet speculates that instead of fully acquiring Hulu, Disney may try to shed its ownership in the service in exchange for something more valuable: assets Marvel sold to stay afloat after the company was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1996. In 2003 director Ang Lee made the live-action Hulk film starring Eric Bana as Bruce Banner for NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. NBCUniversal failed to release a sequel to the standalone film, and the rights to Hulk’s IP returned to Marvel, but not distribution rights. The same is true of Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Disney has not indicated that the company will pursue the distribution rights to the two characters. Still, Bazinet conjectures, "Following fiscal 1Q23 results, we believe [Disney] is less interested in a mass market [direct-to-consumer] offering. This raises the possibility that Disney may sell its Hulu stake." Bazinet estimated that if such a sale occurred, Disney would like to price its stake in Hulu between 19.8 and 27.5 billion dollars. Hulu’s average revenue per user (ARPU) was $12.46 in the fourth quarter of 2022, trailing Netflix’s with $16.23 and outpacing Disney+, which ended with $5.95.
Bazinet postulated a "wide range of outcomes" for the corporation, from selling its Hulu stock to combining Disney+ and Hulu into one streaming service. He suggested that Disney’s $97.66 share price could drop by $3 or increase by $13, depending on the company's decision in 2024.