After Lucasfilm, is Hasbro next for Disney?

After absorbing the Star Wars universe with its $4-billion acquisition of Lucasfilm, Disney's big-time acquisition spree does not appear to be over yet.

 

Disney may soon be putting mouse ears over Optimus Prime, Cobra Commander and other characters in the Hasbro universe, if rumors cited by MTV prove accurate.

 

"(W)e have it on good authority that serious discussions are happening at the highest levels of both Disney and Hasbro to fold the largest toy and game company on the planet into the Mouse," MTV said.

 

But it said that while the talks are still "just discussions" at this time, they are serious enough to potentially rock the entertainment industry.

 

"The Lucasfilm acquisition has been reported as taking as few as six months to complete. On the other hand, Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has until 2015 on his current contract, and he waited about three years in between the acquisitions of Marvel and Lucasfilm, so we may be without firm news on this for some time," it added.

 

Should Disney's acquisition of Hasbro push through, it would gain the rights to Hasbro properties including Transformers, G.I. Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, Beyblade, Battleship, Nerf, and Magic: The Gathering.

 

Even before Hasbro and Lucasfilm, Disney had already gobbled up Marvel Entertainment, though Sony still owns the film rights to Spider-Man.

 

Film rights to other Marvel properties, X-Men and Fantastic Four, are with Twentieth Century Fox, ScreenRant.com said.

 

Still, having Hasbro, Marvel and Star Wars would be a "pretty comprehensive lock on boy’s entertainment," MTV said.

 

"(It would be) a far cry from a few years back when Disney was heavily criticized for losing its grip on boys," it added.

 

MTV also noted Hasbro has toy and tabletop game licenses to Star Wars and Marvel, and has been successful with them.

 

It cited as well the "cross-pollination" with Star Wars Transformers and Monopoly.

 

Hasbro's future

 

MTV noted that while the Transformers and G.I. Joe films are with Paramount, that could easily change, since the animated series are with The Hub, along with Beyblade, Kaijudo, and others.

 

But it said it is not clear how that channel would fit into Disney’s plans.

 

"They could be folded into Disney XD, and the girls brands folded into Disney Channel. On the comics’ side this would be bad news for IDW, just as the Marvel acquisition was for BOOM! and the Lucasfilm acquisition is likely to be for Dark Horse," it said.

 

A separate article on Examiner.com also suggested the possibility of a "Magic: The Gathering" theme park at Disney World "where players can meet Jace, the Architect and Vraska the Unseen."

 

It added rides could include "Multiverse Racing" go-carts and guests could stay at the luxurious Ivory Tower. — TJD, GMA News