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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
 Posted - 09/06/2005 : 3:32:20 PM
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Sorry, I'd rather just post a link, but...
Marvel to Expand Film Powers With Half Billion Loan Facility
Dow Jones Newswires
Marvel Enterprises Inc. completed a $525 million, seven-year debt facility to finance 10 films based on its comic-book characters, and will change its name to Marvel Entertainment Inc., reflecting the company's expanding Hollywood presence.
In a release Tuesday, Marvel said it plans to launch independently financed films to gain greater profit potential and to take more control of movie production and release dates. Prior films featuring Marvel characters were made through licensing deals with other studios.
Marvel said Viacom Inc.'s Paramount unit agreed to distribute the films. The first title is scheduled for release in the summer of 2008.
Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. arranged the debt facility, which consists of $465 million in revolving senior bank debt and $60 million in mezzanine debt. The theatrical film rights act as collateral on the loan.
The characters in the arrangement are Captain America, The Avengers, Nick Fury, Black Panther, Ant-Man, Cloak & Dagger, Dr. Strange, Hawkeye, Power Pack, and Shang-Chi. Each film is expected to have a budget of up to $165 million. Marvel plans to use the financing to make live-action films.
Write to Dow Jones Newswires editors at asknewswires@dowjones.com.
Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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jedimom
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1239 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2005 : 9:27:54 PM
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Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu??? I am SO there!
"Oh, that is so lame! You will pay for your use of inappropriate dialogue!" --Mojo Jojo, "Power Prof" |
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UnknownSubject
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Australia
212 Posts |
Posted - 09/06/2005 : 9:29:26 PM
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Ant-Man? ANT-MAN!?!? And will the sequel be Giant-Man?
You know, Marvel has made some bonehead moves (currently: suing Cryptic Studios for some players recreating Marvel characters in City of Heroes - it may have worked better if the examples they used HADN'T BEEN CREATED BY THE MARVEL LEGAL TEAM) and I respect that Marvel sees more money in movies than in toys (comics aren't that profitable) but it really sounds like a terribly risky move. Almost like they are blinded by the success of "Spider-Man" while forgetting about the just-past-the-post performances of "Daredevil" and "Blade: Trinity".
Also: cripes. Given the sheer scope of the Marvel universe, it's a bit disappointing to see Shang-Chi and Ant-Man in the initial selection. Unless the better know characters are held up from previous rights sales, you'd think that some better known characters may have had a higher selection.
Spandex Cinema
http://sc.thebeholder.org
Latest Review - "The Punisher" (2004) |
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Prankster
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
727 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 01:57:03 AM
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Yeah, bad move for Marvel (though really, don't count on most of these ever making it to the screen; intellectual property development deals can be really weird). Well, not a bad move so much as one that's almost certain to be squandered. They're going to keep trying to make "Spiderman" while failing to realize that they don't have any Spiderman-level franchises left. And stuff like Nick Fury and Dr. Strange, while they could potentially make great movies, would require a different approach than the formula we've seen in Marvel movies so far. Unless they've got some real genius moves up their sleeve, this is basically Marvel investing in a gold mine that's mostly been stripped.
By the way, comics are only "not that profitable" because of the stupid mismanagement of Marvel and others. If Marvel is honestly stupid enough to stop publishing comics in order to pursue movies exclusively, they deserve what they will inevitably get.
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Check out my online comics at [URL]http://www.phantasmictales.com[/URL]! |
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Max Torque
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
61 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 11:20:18 AM
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 1:51:16 PM
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I'm still waiting for Iron Man.
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://henrybrennan.blogspot.com/ |
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Marlowe
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
445 Posts |
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2005 : 7:37:16 PM
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The thing is that Iron Man is probably the best film they could make if you look at it from the "soulless profiteer" standpoint. The armor would look good in CGI (they can't do human faces yet, period) and the toys could have a fleet of different specialty armor...
We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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Ken HPoJ
Supreme Potentate
USA
1530 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2005 : 12:30:31 PM
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Ghost Rider is scheduled to come out next year, but it's gonna suck. Big time.
Myself, I want to know when John Singleton's going to get off his ass and make that Luke Cage movie. Sweet Christmas, man, get on with it! I mean...holy spit!
As for the thrust of this article, I think these are the characters that Marvel used as collateral to get the loan. Many of their prime ones are currently optioned to various studios. I expect Marvel to stick with, say, Captain America at first, and start accumulating bigger characters as the options run out. The one good thing is that the more this occurs, the more cross overs you could have. However, Spider-Man clearly will be staying with Sony for a while, and so on.
The problem with the Avengers movie is that many of the standard characters--Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, are optioned out. Marvel is also working with Lion's Gate to produce 10 direct to video animated movies. The first will be the Ultimate Avengers, because I guess those are officially discrete characters from the 'regular' Cap, Thor, Hulk, etc.
See the story here: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/7342.html
PEGGY: I don't see how having a girl on the team would ruin it. Did a woman judge ruin the Supreme Court?
HANK: Yes, and that woman's name was Earl Warren.
--King of the Hill |
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Zev
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
USA
182 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2005 : 3:07:21 PM
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According to IGN Filmforce, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) is going to be directing an Ant-Man movie. Seems like a good move on Marvel's part, as the "hire small-time but visionary director" thing has worked before (notably X-Men and Spider-Man).
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quote:
Originally posted by TheFoywonder
Now they need to make a movie where soldiers in Iraq actually find one of Saddam Hussein's secret underground chemical weapons facilities only to find it overrrun with big mutant sand spiders. And the the film will be called IRAQNID!
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Prankster
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
727 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2005 : 8:20:26 PM
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Yeah, but...Ant-Man? Even if they are doing it as a comedy...Ant-Man?
Ant-Man?!?
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Check out my online comics at [URL]http://www.phantasmictales.com[/URL]! |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 11:13:56 AM
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Ant-man? What about Hawkeye? I'm sorry, but archers are [u]lame![u]
Unless they give him say, a french tickler arrow...
I keep waiting for Hawkeye to go postal, in a very Twisted Toyfare kinda way. "Respect me! Or i'll put a broadhead in your..."..you know, that kinda thing.
"Reality is arguable...lunch time is not." H. Flangepart.
"One Weekend a month my ass!" Crow- The Beginning of the End.
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 11:51:59 AM
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But man ... he talks to the ants!
We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 5:59:15 PM
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I'd go for She-Hulk. But then again, I find female Klingons pretty hot (at least some of them). Hold on, did I take my medication, today?
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://henrybrennan.blogspot.com/ |
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 6:10:47 PM
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She-Hulk's a risk -- I think she's strongest as a tongue-in-cheek character and those don't seem to film well.
Is it really Marvel's position that Ultimate Captain America is a completely different character from Captain America?! Man, if that works, I'll have to get the ball rolling on Penultimate Captain America...
We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 6:35:12 PM
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quote:
originally posted by John Nowak:
She-Hulk's a risk -- I think she's strongest as a tongue-in-cheek character and those don't seem to film well.
So I guess "Dial H for Hero" is out, then. Anyway, I wasn't interested in "risk". I just wanted to see She-Hulk in that outfit. (Don Rickles' "I'm so lonely" comes to mind, here).
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://henrybrennan.blogspot.com/ |
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