Sony's credit rating cut to "junk"...Implications for Spider-Man?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Ian Keldon, Nov 22, 2012.

  1. Admiral James Kirk

    Admiral James Kirk Writer Admiral

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    Agreed. The first Raimi Spider-Man movie was mediocre at best.
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I think both screen versions of Spidey are good, and I like it that they take very different approaches so that they complement each other. The first film suffered a bit by having to cover some of the same beats of the origin, but that shouldn't be a problem going forward (well, depending on what they do with the Osborns).
     
  3. Ian Keldon

    Ian Keldon Fleet Captain

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    Or they might regain the rights for nothing, depending on the exact nature of their contract with Sony. If the rights are "non-transferrable", then ONLY Sony would have the right to make Spider-Man under that contract. An end to Sony's entertainment division might see an automatic reversion of rights to Marvel.

    I don't KNOW that's the case, but such a restrictive contract would be typical of Marvel.
     
  4. Ian Keldon

    Ian Keldon Fleet Captain

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    Splitting the box office is exactly WHY studios typically don't release big films at the same time by "gentlemens' agreement". Blockbuster-scale movies are too big of an investment to risk sending directly up against each other and not getting maximum box office in return.
     
  5. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Well, let's look at how FOX tried to deal with its expiring Daredevil rights before it finally reverted back to Marvel.

    There were NEVER any talks about selling the rights to any other studio right?
     
  6. Ian Keldon

    Ian Keldon Fleet Captain

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    Except that the bean-counters don't think that way historically. Rob Liefeld had an X-Men related project turned down in Mavel's comic division because they "were not in the business of generating IP for Fox studios".

    If those rumors about a more congenial attitude are true, that might be changing, but I haven't seen enough for me to consider it confirmed yet.
     
  7. Ian Keldon

    Ian Keldon Fleet Captain

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    I don't know, to be honest, but there isn't a "standard contract" for these things. Different franchise rights were sold off at different points in time with different CEOs in charge, so each contract may read differently.
     
  8. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Also during the summer, studios can get away with releasing a huge movie every single week. They can also release two different big movies on the same day so long as they are going for two very different audiences like... Twilight and James Bond.
     
  9. Venardhi

    Venardhi Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The PS3 and 360 have both sold around 70 million consoles.
     
  10. Ian Keldon

    Ian Keldon Fleet Captain

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    Correct, which is why your example (Spide-Man vs Iron Man) would never happen. They're aimed at the same audience.
     
  11. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    That's a good point, I'd forgotten about Disney's deep pockets. Of course, having spent all that money on Spider-man and with them already having the Marvel movie verse rights, Disney may not want to spend all that money on yet another franchise.

    You mean the first of the Webb movies, as oppose to the first of all the big screen Spidey movies (the 2002 one), right?

    I think part of the problem there was that by the time it became evident that Fox couldn't get their DD reboot up in time to avoid the reversion of the rights, the property was basically unsellable. Fox tried to get a relaunch with David Slade at the helm and then, after he bailed, Joe Carnahan made an unsuccessful pitch. By the time Fox decided that they didn't want to make the movie, the rights were only weeks away from expiring.

    So even if Fox could have sold on the rights to another studio - and you may well be right that there is a restrictive covenant about selling on the rights, I don't honestly know the answer - the reality is that no other studio was going to do so as they were also going to have to get the whole shebang into operation in an unfeasibly short period of time.
     
  12. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Yes, that was what I meant.
     
  13. Kelthaz

    Kelthaz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That was my example actually.
     
  14. Ian Keldon

    Ian Keldon Fleet Captain

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    ^OOPS! Sorry!
     
  15. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    90% of X-Box 360 owners have to buy about 4 before the RROD stops. ;)
     
  16. Thestral

    Thestral Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I don't really care who owns the rights, but I really don't want to see a reboot again so soon.

    Or I guess more accurately, I don't want to see Garfield and Stone recast and another origin story told, because as much as I really liked Raimi's Spider-Man movies, I liked this last one even better. If Marvel got ahold of the property and tied it in loosely with their ongoing universe I'd be fine with that so long as it doesn't interfere with what Webb's planning for the second movie.
     
  17. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    I really don't think future ownership will interfere with the next movie. IMHO, it will be claimed by the current Sony owners as "in the pipeline" and they will have full rights to it.

    Movie 3, will likely be under discussion, but, I think II will proceed basically unimpeded
     
  18. Dude

    Dude Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    In terms of competing with each other on releases, keep in mind that both Amazing Spider-Man and Dark Knight Rises were released in the same month and ASM followed Avengers by only 6 weeks. Currently, they are 1, 2, and 4 on the list for highest grosses this year. It's possible that Skyfall or Twilight may outpace ASM, probable that The Hobbit will. But by any stretch, all three major comic book movies were wildly profitable this summer. There's plenty of room in the market.