Not so iron, man: Marvel’s shares tumble on 2008 outlook
August 6, 2008
Marvel Entertainment Inc. may have to send Tony Stark back to the lab: The company’s latest financial outlook didn’t cut it with investors.
New York-based Marvel, whose spring movie hit “Iron Man” featured Robert Downey Jr. as the scientist-genius-egomaniac Stark, today reported a 60% jump in second-quarter profit, thanks mainly to a surge in revenue from licensing of merchandise tied to “Iron Man” and others in Marvel’s large cast of characters.
But Wall Street focused on the company’s revised revenue and profit forecasts for 2008. Although Marvel boosted its revenue estimate for this year to a range of $450 million to $480 million, an increase of 20% from its May forecast, analysts’ consensus was for $516 million, according to Bloomberg data.
- from LAtimes
Latest on Edgar Wright’s Ant Man for Marvel
July 23, 2008
From THR:
Edgar Wright, currently penning the potential (ant) man out, offered a little hint of how it might work this past weekend at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy fest: as a holiday release. Marvel execs are on the record as saying they tend to prefer the warm months for their releases. But “Ant Man” is a bit of a different breed — the lesser-know character who can turn into an ant and also control insects with his mind plays more tongue-in-cheek than some of the company’s other properties.
Wright said he’s in the middle of a second draft on the script, and of course is set for another graphic novel adaptation, “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World,” for Marc Platt and Universal ahead of “Ant Man” But don’t be surprised to turn on the light during Christmas of 2010 and find a head peeking back from behind a few antennae.
Edgar Wright Talks ‘Ant-Man’
June 28, 2008
From Cinematical:
Everyone seems to have superheroes on the brain this summer, so it’s the perfect time for Edgar Wright to pop out of the woodwork to remind us about Ant-Man. In an interview with PiQ magazine about the DVD release of Spaced, the topic drifted to Ant-Man on the big screen.
Wright confirmed that the second draft of the script is still underway, and that the film will be a, “different way of seeing a superhero origin, because you’ve seen so many of them and we really tried to figure out a fresh take on that story. So it’s definitely a Marvel film but it’s got a little twist on it in terms of the way that it plays out.”
Back in March, Elisabeth had brought us the update that the film was going to be a little light on the comedy, and it seems like Wright is sticking to that philosophy. Wright took the opportunity to remind us once again that he will be playing it straight for Ant-Man — or at least as ’straight’ as one of the people responsible for the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy can be.
The Incredible Hulk: The Truth About Edward Norton vs. Marvel
June 15, 2008
Edward Norton turned down the project when he was first approached but Marvel insisted that he meet with director Louis Leterrier, and Norton relented. At the meeting Norton offered his version of The Hulk story, and Marvel agreed to hire a screenwriter to work with him on a rewrite of Zak Penn’s draft. But no screenwriter was ever hired and Norton did a substantial page-one rewrite by himself. Anne Thompson explains: “With about two months to go before the movie started filming, Norton did a page one rewrite–knowing that he couldn’t do anything radical, because sets were being built, locations found, etc. The entire Brazil sequence was already story-boarded.” Norton added a lot of dialogue and character motivation, and Marvel agreed to shoot Norton’s draft of the screenplay.
After production was completed, Leterrier put together “an assembly” of the film, which basically included everything that was shot. The director explained to Collider: “It’s called a suicide run because it’s absolutely horrible. You want to commit suicide after you see it.”
Marvel decided they wanted make a shorter, more action-packed cut of the film, discarding a lot of the character development pieces that Norton had brought to the screenplay.
- from /Film
Punisher: War Zone teaser released
June 12, 2008
Virtual Greats creates Web celebs. Why?
June 10, 2008
The Los Angeles-based company has inked deals with Justin Timberlake, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Raven Symone, Tila Tequila and Marvel’s Incredible Hulk to turn their likenesses into virtual goods for members of online communities like Gaia, Second Life and Habbo.
Members would pay a fee to make the avatars they use to roam around the virtual worlds look like their favorite celebrities or characters. Or they could purchase a certain hair style, catchphrase, dance move, clothing line or other bit associated with the celebs or entertainment properties.
- From Variety
Problems with Jon Favreau and Marvel regarding Iron Man 2?
June 9, 2008
Q: Any good news on contract talks between you and Marvel yet?
A: It’s been five weeks since the one and only phone call my reps have gotten from Marvel. I know their hands are full with the Hulk and I’m sure they will get into it shortly, as they tell me they intend to. I ran into the Marvel guys at the Hulk premiere and everyone sounded eager to get to work on IM2.
I am concerned, however, about the announced release date of April 2010. Neither Robert nor I were consulted about this and we are both concerned about how realistic the date is in light of the fact that we have no script, story or even writers hired yet. This genre of movie is best when it is done thoughtfully and with plenty of preparation. It might be better to follow the BB/DK, X/X2 three year release pattern than to scramble for a date. It is difficult because there are no Marvel 09 releases and they need product, but I also think we owe it to the fans to have a great version of IM2 and, at this point, we would have less time to make it than the first one.
- From Myspace
Why Marvel Decided to reboot the Hulk…
May 31, 2008
“Ang Lee explored one percent of the Hulk mythos: Bruce Banner’s childhood and the trauma that allowed this creature that burst forth,” says Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. “We wanted to explore the other 99 percent.”
Of course, Edward Norton has replaced Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. But “TIH” starts out with Banner on the run in Latin America, just as he was when last seen at the end of the 2003 movie. And the second film sets out to be not so much a sequel as a merger of the comic book and TV series versions of the Hulk.
From the TV series, look for the idea of Bruce Banner as a man on the run, forever searching for a cure. Also look for glimpses of an origin story close to what TV fans remember: Banner in a big lab chair, getting dosed with gamma rays.
From the comics, there’s the return of Banner’s love Betty Ross, played by Liv Tyler. William Hurt plays her father, Gen. Thunderbolt Ross, the Army man obsessed with capturing the Hulk. “He’s Ahab and Hulk is the whale,” says producer Gale Ann Hurd, “You’ll see in the movie little nods to that.”
- From Variety
Spider-Man 4 Coming 2010?!
May 23, 2008
Marvel Vice Chairman Peter Cuneo was asked about the status of Spider-man 4 today. He confirmed that Sony has made the payment to renew their rights to make the film.
Cuneo said the following, “As far as Spider-man 4, it’s really up to Sony and it up to them, most likely scenario is 2010 or 2011 but we can’t speak for them and I think that we don’t know. They have given us their re-up payment for that film so you know they’re going to make it within a reasonable timeframe. Sony may be looking at some issues with the cast and so on, I think they have to make some decisions.”
So it’s really up to Sony right now, will Tobey Maguire return? Will Sam Raimi return? Also, the re-up payment means the rights need to be used within a reasonable amount of time, so I would expect to hear something regarding movement on 4 and 5 late this year if not early next year.
- From IESB
Marvel chases Runaways
May 23, 2008
“Runaways” is the latest Marvel Comics book to get the big-screen treatment from Marvel Studios.
Brian K. Vaughan, who co-created the series with artist Adrian Alphona, is writing the adaptation, for which Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will act as producer. Vaughan is also a co-producer and writer on ABC’s “Lost.”
As opposed to other Marvel characters getting the silver screen treatment, such as the Hulk and Spider-Man — who have been around since the 1960s and are pop-culture fixtures — the heroes in “Runaways” are relatively new, with the comic series launching in 2002.
The title was critically praised for its honest portrayal of teens and their issues and in 2006 won a Harvey Award for best series.
“Runaways” follows a group of teenagers who find that some family secrets are bigger than others when they discover their parents are actually super-villains. Running away from their homes, the teens band together and begin a journey of discovery, both of their parents’ origins and of their own inherited powers, while trying to make up for the evil done by their folks.
- From THR
Spider-Man 4 and 5 coming soon?!
May 16, 2008
Cinematical just received a tasty little scoop from one of our trusty top secret super delegate Hollywood insiders, and it’s purty interesting (all you Spidey fans might want to listen up): Apparently, in the last few weeks, James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) has turned in a working draft of Spider-Man 4 to the studio. However, according to our source, “his story arc has encompassed two films, making Spider-Man 5 shootable at the same time. The studio saw dollar signs and is in the process of reworking his deal to snatch up the story arc.” Don’t expect anything immediately, though, since we’ve been told both sides are still trying to negotiate the deal. — From Cinematical
Marvel’s a world apart from DC
May 15, 2008
The shared universe was one of the hallmarks of the Marvel universe. Dominant DC suddenly was squaresville, while Marvel was what the cool college kids kept in their dorms, and Marvel overtook DC as the No. 1 comics publisher.
Now, going on five decades later, Marvel is at it again.
At the end of the credits of the current blockbuster “Iron Man,” there is a coda with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, the head of a secret organization, SHIELD, inviting Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark to be part of the Avenger Initiative. Sit past the credits with a group of geeks and you’ll hear gleeful titters of recognition.
Next, Stark will pop up in June in Universal’s release of “The Incredible Hulk.” Marvel more than hinted that Hulk, Fury and others will surface in the 2010 and 2011 releases of “Iron Man 2,” “Thor” and “Captain America,” leading up to “The Avengers,” which will team all these heroes — and hopefully the respective actors first creating them onscreen — in one movie.
“We are … able to have characters pop up in each other’s movies and make those movies more interesting and get visibility and promote our future films,” Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel says.
That’s something that Warners and DC have yet to master.
- From THR
Marvel extends Maisel deal, ups Feige
May 7, 2008
Days after the $100 million boxoffice smash opening of “Iron Man,” Marvel Entertainment has extended the contract of Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel through 2010 and promoted Kevin Feige to president of Marvel Studios.
Maisel, who joined Marvel in 2003 and was named chairman of Marvel Studios last year, was responsible for the conception and execution of the company’s film production initiative and for securing a $525 million nonrecourse loan facility to finance the strategy. He also serves as an executive producer on both “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk.”
- From THR
Marvel Super Hero Squad is GO!
May 7, 2008
On the heels of a $102 million opening weekend for “Iron Man,” Marvel Animation is powering up the “Marvel Super Hero Squad.”
The Marvel Entertainment division said it is producing 26 half-hour episodes of a new “super stylized” animated series aimed at 6- to 8-year-olds. It will feature such well-known heroes as Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Thor, Fantastic Four and Captain America; all occupy a caricatured Super Hero City and are thrust into humorous adventures as they thwart the villainous plans of Doctor Doom, Magneto, Loki, the Abomination and others.
- From Reuters
There’s no way Captain America will be Matthew McConaughey
May 7, 2008
One of our long time scoopers dropped us a message tonight to let me know that Matthew McConaughey may be one of Marvel’s leading candidates to slip into Cap’s red white and blue underpants. Our source is a reliable one, but at this point it’s still very early and he’s only one of the actor’s they are considering for the role. - From cinemablend
“Iron Man 2″ set for summer 2010 with news on Thor, Captain America and The Avengers
May 5, 2008
Following the film’s blockbuster opening weekend, Marvel Entertainment is planning an “Iron Man” sequel for 2010 after a 2009 without feature releases.
In its earnings report Monday morning, the company unveiled its film release plans for the next three years. They are designed “to focus its attention on maximizing the success of an ‘Iron Man’ sequel and the launch of ‘Thor’ in the summer of 2010,” it said.
The company has set April 30, 2010, as the release date for “Iron Man 2″ and confirmed that it will not have a new film out next year.
“Thor” is slated for June 4, 2010. Marvel also is planting its feature film stakes for 2011 with an Avengers-themed summer.
The May 6, 2011, release of what is now going under the working title “The First Avenger: Captain America” will be followed by “The Avengers” in July.
What’s next for Marvel Studios?
May 2, 2008
With “Iron Man” set to explode this weekend, the next question for Marvel is: What now?
One big variable is who does the distribution. When its financing deal was announced in summer 2005, Marvel said the deal “guarantees distribution for 10 films” through Paramount.
But that guarantee means the Melrose Avenue studio must distribute movies Marvel brings to it. For Marvel, the pact is simply a two-picture deal, with “Iron Man” the first and Marvel obligated only to distribute its next movie through Paramount. (Universal’s “The Incredible Hulk” is exempt.)
An additional provision requires that movies based on “Captain America” and “Nick Fury” go through Paramount should they be made, with either film also counting toward the two-picture deal. Sequels of Par-distributed movies also will remain with the studio.
As a result, Marvel properties including “The Avengers,” “Thor” and “Ant Man” could conceivably end up with other distributors.
Three years ago, the company wanted to stress the Paramount deal to show it had a pipeline; now, with “Iron Man” tracking well, Marvel aims to show Wall Street that the fledgling studio has flexibility.
Via THR
Tony Stark’s Cameo in The Incredible Hulk
April 20, 2008
The panel audience got a special treat that we in theatres (most likely) won’t — after the trailer, they showed the much-discussed cameo that Tony Stark makes in Hulk. Stark is sitting with General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross in a bar — and Ross is completely drunk. Stark says “I hear you’ve got an unusual problem.” “You should talk,” replies Ross. Stark then shoots back, all smooth: “You should listen.” - Via Cinematical
Ed Norton on The Incredible Hulk Drama
April 16, 2008
“Like so many people I’ve loved the story of The Hulk since I was a kid, so it was thrilling when Marvel asked me to write and help produce an altogether new screen incarnation, as well as play Bruce Banner. I grew up reading Marvel Comics and always loved the mythic dimension and contemporary themes in the stories, and I’m proud of the script I wrote. In every phase of production, including the editing, working with Louis Leterrier has been wonderful…I’ve never had a better partner, and the collaboration with all the rest of the creative team has been terrific. Every good movie gets forged through collaboration, and different ideas among people who are all committed and respect the validity of each other’s opinions is the heart of filmmaking. Regrettably, our healthy process, which is and should be a private matter, was misrepresented publicly as a ‘dispute,’ seized on by people looking for a good story, and has been distorted to such a degree that it risks distracting from the film itself, which Marvel, Universal and I refuse to let happen. It has always been my firm conviction that films should speak for themselves and that knowing too much about how they are made diminishes the magic of watching them. All of us believe The Incredible Hulk will excite old fans and create new ones and be a huge hit…our focus has always been to deliver the Hulk that people have been waiting for and keep the worldwide love affair with the big green guy going strong.”
Via EW
Geek alert 1: First look at Marvel’s Secret Invasion by Brian Bendis
March 27, 2008
“They don’t invade because — ‘Muhahaha! We need the Earth!’ — but actually on a deep, religious level they already believe Earth is part of their empire. In the past, they were written as laser-gun toting, spaceship aliens. [But] they are shape shifters. Just think about what that means — they [could] infiltrate us and feed off our existing fears and paranoia. And it isn’t government or religion that stands in their way, it’s the people who have the physical [super]power to step up. Once the Skrulls announce their intentions to the world, they say, ‘You’re destroying your world, the way you live. One of you will live in excess right next to someone who’s starving, and none of you do anything about it. Our system works. Our system is complete. We’re coming to give it to you.’ For some people, that’s a damn attractive offer. They don’t feel like they’re being invaded. They think, ‘Finally someone’s here to save us.’ So what’s right or wrong?”
Via EW
Good news: Chris Evans says FF3 unlikely. They should reboot this franchise, like they did with Hulk. Get a better director and cast…
March 22, 2008
“I’m pretty sure we won’t do [another] one,” Evans told MTV Movies Blog. “I’m assuming that one is a closed book.” The actor, soon to be seen in Fox Searchlight’s Street Kings, added, “We had all planned on doing [another] one but if there were going to be a third I think a week after the second one was released we would have heard [from 20th Century Fox].”
Via MTVMovies
Hulk CGI Is a Work in Progress
March 17, 2008
“The Incredible Hulk” will be released on June 13th. The film is a complete re-boot, however the characters origin will be shown briefly. The title character is not CGI like the last film but instead motion capture similar to the Silver Surfer in “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
Via CBR
‘The Incredible Hulk’ Trailer is Here!
March 12, 2008
Ed Norton Smash Marvel
March 11, 2008
I’m told that’s because Norton and Marvel are clashing over how to cut the pic. Insiders say Norton was “promised tremendous involvement and access” after Marvel invited him into the core team to rewrite Zak Penn’s script. Says one insider, “There’s a lot of posturing going on between Edward’s camp and Marvel over how you edit the final version.” Sources also tell me that, starting last night and continuing at least throughout today, the actor will be holed up with Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel, Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige, and director Louis Leterrier to try to “reach an amicable resolution” to this $150+ million film feud.
Marvel is on a mission
March 7, 2008
Launching a major movie production company right now seems like a dicey venture. But the Marvel formula has been a spectacular success for other studios the last eight years. The self-doubting Spider-Man, the bickering Fantastic Four, the misunderstood X-Men and all the other Marvel misfits have racked up a stunning $5 billion in worldwide box office, most of that for Sony and Fox. Marvel now wants its own spot at the table. After four years of planning and winning over Wall Street, “Iron Man” is the first step in the company’s quest to go from intellectual-property fount to a stand-alone Hollywood player that can greenlight big-time popcorn movies.
Via LAtimes