Running a movie studio is a complicated endeavor, which means combining two massive studios into one results in many complications. With the Walt Disney Company's upcoming acquisition of 20th Century Fox, there's a lot of confusion over the timelines of transferring ownership and when Disney will officially be able to begin developing films featuring Fox properties. Regardless of the status of a film, whether it's in production or completed, Disney will be releasing Fox films once the deal has officially closed.

Due to the nature of the internet and the inherent misunderstanding of complex business deals, from the time rumors emerged that Disney could purchase Fox properties, theories immediately ignited that Fox characters could appear in a Disney film that would be released in the near future. Namely, some fans expected nods to the X-Men in Avengers: Infinity War, which unsurprisingly never took place.

Both studios have confirmed that the deal likely won't officially be closed until the middle of next year. Once the deal is closed, Disney will then be able to start developing films with Fox properties. With Marvel Studios' current turnaround time of three years between many of their sequels, we shouldn't expect to see an X-Men film being developed by Disney to hit theaters until 2022.

A new report from the Wall Street Journal confirms that, despite the looming takeover, Fox is taking a "business as usual" approach to developing new films.

"We're doing the only thing we know how to do, which is put one foot in front of another," one executive shared.

The next X-Men film to hit theaters, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, has a release date of February 14, 2019. Other X-Men films or spinoffs — such as The New Mutants — that are in the process of filming or completed, won't necessarily be shelved or scrapped by Disney, as sources at Disney have confirmed to the outlet.

In addition to the thousands of jobs that will be cut in the merger, Fox is also currently being somewhat ignored when it comes to agents approaching the studio in hopes of selling scripts. The uncertainty of their future makes it prudent for filmmakers to seek studios with more stability.

"People are making an effort to include [Fox] out of respect, but it's not anyone's first choice because you don't know what the studio is going to be," one agent shared with Wall Street Journal.

Are you looking forward to this deal going through? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T Wall Street Journal]