Front Burner

How the merger of Disney and Fox will change movies and tv

After the merger of Disney and Fox, one movie studio controls almost 40% of the box office. But is bigness a good thing for moviegoers and TV watchers? Film critic David Sims on the new economics of Hollywood.
The Walt Disney Co. logo appears on a screen above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (Richard Drew/Associated Press)

After the merger of Disney and Fox, one movie studio controls almost 40% of the box office. The merger puts Disney in a position to compete with big tech companies like Netflix and Apple in the streaming game. But is it good for moviegoers and TV watchers? Film critic David Sims says 'bigness' can lead to bad outcomes for less profitable content like local news and art movies, but will increase our diet of superhero blockbusters. "It seems that these companies that have always existed in the movie business are looking at this industry and saying, we can only make a few kinds of movies anymore that can make money," says Sims.

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