The Official "Get Marvel's Rights Back!" Thread

[YoungPrime]

Originally Posted by Moridin

Indeed, and that studio will be Fox. They'd have to be stupid to keep DOFP opening the same day as TH:TABA.

Talk about getting kick out of your own birthday party if they do....LOL!

But this personal for WB so if FOX does move X-men, The Hobbit 3 may just move right along with it.

Hence the term: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

[R_Hythlodeus]

Originally Posted by YoungPrime

Talk about getting kick out of your own birthday party if they do....LOL!

But this personal for WB so if FOX does move X-men, The Hobbit 3 may just move right along with it.

Hence the term: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

This reminds me of the time when Paramount thought it would be a great idea to put Star Trek:Nemesis in the ring with LOTR:ROTK...

[xeno000]

I had completely forgotten that DOFP and the third Hobbit movie are scheduled for the same day. Fox had better start blinking like crazy because as it stands their little X-film is going to get flattened by a hobbit and some dwarves.


If Fox wants to reschedule DOFP, they are going to be squeezed by Transformers on one side and The Hobbit on the other. That's the proverbial rock and a hard place.


Marvel's strategy of releasing Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy outside the traditional Summer period offers both movies huge advantages. As the schedule stands now, neither one will face major competition. August is wide open after GotG comes out, even though TH: TABA and DOFP will (presumably) be in their third week. Movies tend to slow down by that point, so GotG still has a fair chance of topping the box office when it debuts.


CA:TWS goes up against The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington in its second week, but the market can probably support both. The Denzel film is based on a 1980s TV show that is rather obscure (although I loved it). It should have Punisher levels of violence, which means it won't be targeting that family-friendly superheroic sweet spot that the Marvel films aim for. (I don't think that Rio 2 and Stretch Armstrong are going to be too much of a problem.)

[marvelrobbins]

Remember X-Men had the spot first.Then after warner brothers decides to let Peter Jackson do The Hobbit In 3 films then decided to put the hobbit In X-Men's spot.

Fox will likely be one to blink and push X_Men back by a couple of weeks Inless WB
reconisders and moves Hobbit to christmas like the first 2 and lord of the rings.

Guardians of the galaxy needs to be worried If they go up aginst X-Men directly.They are very unknown and don't have Robert Downey JR In It.

[Saitou Hajime]

Originally Posted by marvelrobbins

Guardians of the galaxy needs to be worried If they go up aginst X-Men directly.They are very unknown and don't have Robert Downey JR In It.

So did Thor and CTFA, and they outgrossed XMFC even without the 3D boost. And the franchise's profits are only to keep on declining. Meanwhile GOTG's premise tends to lend itself to the GA, and they have the Midas touch of Marvel Studios behind them.

[xeno000]

Originally Posted by marvelrobbins

Remember X-Men had the spot first.Then after warner brothers decides to let Peter Jackson do The Hobbit In 3 films then decided to put the hobbit In X-Men's spot.

Fox will likely be one to blink and push X_Men back by a couple of weeks Inless WB
reconisders and moves Hobbit to christmas like the first 2 and lord of the rings.

Guardians of the galaxy needs to be worried If they go up aginst X-Men directly.They are very unknown and don't have Robert Downey JR In It.

Don't be too sure about that. Iron Man just built himself a suit of space armor and joined the Guardians in the comics. Marvel has a history of tying the comics and movies together, so it wouldn't be too surprising to see Robert Downey, Jr. in space soon.

[YoungPrime]

Originally Posted by R_Hythlodeus

This reminds me of the time when Paramount thought it would be a great idea to put Star Trek:Nemesis in the ring with LOTR:ROTK...

Ironically enough Star Trek had to reboot after that...

Perhaps we'll see a repeat of this but under a proper studio....?

[YoungPrime]

Originally Posted by marvelrobbins

Guardians of the galaxy needs to be worried If they go up aginst X-Men directly.They are very unknown and don't have Robert Downey JR In It.

I don't think Marvel/Disney would allow one of their own trademarks to go into direct competition with on another.

Granted FOX owns the license to X-men films but I'm sure their not untouchable and we're not talking Peanuts vs Antman. These are two Marvel franchises we're talking about so I doubt FOX want's heat with both WB and Disney. So to entertain the thought any further would be absurd.

[YoungPrime]

Originally Posted by kaijunexus

I posted this in another thread and realized it fits here even better...

What do you guys think about this scenario?

The only way we get Spider-Man (or X-Men, FF, etc.) in the MCU is if Sony (or Fox for X-Men/FF) realizes that piggy-backing on the success of the MCU only works if your character is introduced into the MCU because people get excited at the possibilities of these characters co-existing on-screen at the same time.

Fox has realized this and that's why they're trying to build their own cinematic universe with X-Men and FF (which will fail miserably because those two franchises don't mix all that well by themselves, and because...well, you know...Fox).

I would imagine that Fox and/or Sony will eventually be willing to make a similar deal that Paramount made with Disney, which is..."Let us distribute the films for our licensed characters and you can produce the movies as you see fit". In this case, the characters are for all intents and purposes back at Marvel, which Fox and Sony still get to rake in plenty of cash from distribution.

This has been discussed before, but I personally don't think Marvel wants anything to do with FOX short from taking their rights back completely.

This idea of Marvel helping to keep FOX/Marvel characters a float while getting chump change off the box office returns (only 10%) would be quite foolish on Marvel's behalf.

Marvel should keep doing what they've been doing and let FOX and Sony fend for themselves. And once Disney's lawyers smell blood in the water is when they should strike.


.....A deal that is LOL!

[Zarex]

Originally Posted by YoungPrime

This has been discussed before, but I personally don't think Marvel wants anything to do with FOX short from taking their rights back completely.

This idea of Marvel helping to keep FOX/Marvel characters a float while getting chump change off the box office returns (only 10%) would be quite foolish on Marvel's behalf.

Marvel should keep doing what they've been doing and let FOX and Sony fend for themselves. And once Disney's lawyers smell blood in the water is when they should strike.


.....A deal that is LOL!

Marvel would prefer to have the rights back in their entirety, but the company certainly wasn't adverse to cutting a deal to buy back the Spider-man merchandising rights owned by Sony. Though Disney/Marvel was shut out of the Amazing Spider-man film profits, they make a killing with toys/clothing/animation/video games and the thousands of other products that have Spidey's face slapped on them. Feige and others have said that they have an excellent relationship with Sony, and the fact that Disney/Marvel rakes in the dough whenever Sony releases a picture has a lot to do with that.

So while Disney/Marvel can continue to realize minimal box office gains from the FF and X-Men, it would be far more prudent to cut a deal and enhance everyone's balance sheet. For example, Marvel could agree to push back the FF film into 2016, avoiding the Avengers and Star Wars mega franchises, and put the FF into the MCU. The FF reboot would be teased at the end of Avengers 2, and Disney/Marvel would agree to flood store shelves with FF merchandise in 2016. In return, Disney/Marvel would co-finance the project and receive a set reversion date, say 10 years after the first film. The FF reboot would have a far greater chance of success under this scenario and fans could look forward to Hulk/Thing, Thor/Silver Surfer battles on the big screen.

[Dr Tactics]

Originally Posted by Zarex

Marvel would prefer to have the rights back in their entirety, but the company certainly wasn't adverse to cutting a deal to buy back the Spider-man merchandising rights owned by Sony. Though Disney/Marvel was shut out of the Amazing Spider-man film profits, they make a killing with toys/clothing/animation/video games and the thousands of other products that have Spidey's face slapped on them. Feige and others have said that they have an excellent relationship with Sony, and the fact that Disney/Marvel rakes in the dough whenever Sony releases a picture has a lot to do with that.

So while Disney/Marvel can continue to realize minimal box office gains from the FF and X-Men, it would be far more prudent to cut a deal and enhance everyone's balance sheet. For example, Marvel could agree to push back the FF film into 2016, avoiding the Avengers and Star Wars mega franchises, and put the FF into the MCU. The FF reboot would be teased at the end of Avengers 2, and Disney/Marvel would agree to flood store shelves with FF merchandise in 2016. In return, Disney/Marvel would co-finance the project and receive a set reversion date, say 10 years after the first film. The FF reboot would have a far greater chance of success under this scenario and fans could look forward to Hulk/Thing, Thor/Silver Surfer battles on the big screen.

For the reason that this makes too much sense is the reason this is has a high probability to not happen though logical minds can still hold out hope, greed is the bigger enemy

[kaijunexus]

Originally Posted by Zarex

Marvel would prefer to have the rights back in their entirety, but the company certainly wasn't adverse to cutting a deal to buy back the Spider-man merchandising rights owned by Sony. Though Disney/Marvel was shut out of the Amazing Spider-man film profits, they make a killing with toys/clothing/animation/video games and the thousands of other products that have Spidey's face slapped on them. Feige and others have said that they have an excellent relationship with Sony, and the fact that Disney/Marvel rakes in the dough whenever Sony releases a picture has a lot to do with that.

So while Disney/Marvel can continue to realize minimal box office gains from the FF and X-Men, it would be far more prudent to cut a deal and enhance everyone's balance sheet. For example, Marvel could agree to push back the FF film into 2016, avoiding the Avengers and Star Wars mega franchises, and put the FF into the MCU. The FF reboot would be teased at the end of Avengers 2, and Disney/Marvel would agree to flood store shelves with FF merchandise in 2016. In return, Disney/Marvel would co-finance the project and receive a set reversion date, say 10 years after the first film. The FF reboot would have a far greater chance of success under this scenario and fans could look forward to Hulk/Thing, Thor/Silver Surfer battles on the big screen.

This is exactly what I'm talking about!

However, like you said, Marvel has a better relationship with Sony than they do with Fox...so I would expect this to happen with Spidey/Ghost Rider before X-men/Fantastic Four unfortunately.

[TheVileOne]

Originally Posted by R_Hythlodeus

This reminds me of the time when Paramount thought it would be a great idea to put Star Trek:Nemesis in the ring with LOTR:ROTK...

Nemesis came out in 2002.

[R_Hythlodeus]

Originally Posted by TheVileOne

Nemesis came out in 2002.

It was Two Towers then. doesn't change the fact, that it was not the wisest decision to open at about the same time as a LOTR movie.

[TheVileOne]

In that time period there is a big movie coming out every weekend these days. The movie opened pretty soft as I recall compared to First Contact.

It was a bad movie and it was getting a lot of negative buzz.

[Marathon]

Maybe the X-Men rights could be bought with a bit of crowdsourcing... everyone who donates gets a thank you credit for the MCU reboot. And the more you donate, the more prestigious the title given to you in the movie's credits.

Or then just make it a stock (so shares bought instead of donations) and license the IP to Marvel Studios.

All of this might sound too far-fetched, but if fans are serious about getting X-Men back to Marvel any time soon, these are the only options I can think of. So either a joint Marvel/independent fans project to get the rights back or a completely independent IP acquisition project to be then licensed. The latter is obviously more complicated because it would require the formation of a new company/organization to control the IP.

[kaijunexus]

Originally Posted by Marathon

Maybe the X-Men rights could be bought with a bit of crowdsourcing... everyone who donates gets a thank you credit for the MCU reboot. And the more you donate, the more prestigious the title given to you in the movie's credits.

Or then just make it a stock (so shares bought instead of donations) and license the IP to Marvel Studios.

All of this might sound too far-fetched, but if fans are serious about getting X-Men back to Marvel any time soon, these are the only options I can think of. So either a joint Marvel/independent fans project to get the rights back or a completely independent IP acquisition project to be then licensed. The latter is obviously more complicated because it would require the formation of a new company/organization to control the IP.

Fox doesn't want to sell the rights. Period.

That is the main stumbling block for getting these characters back to Marvel. Fox and Sony know that there is near-limitless profit to be made from these properties as long as they control them. They have little to no incentive to sell the rights back at any price as long as they see the potential to profit from them in the future.

This is why I've stated numerous times that the best way to unify the MCU is to offer Fox/Sony permanent distribution rights of some sort in exchange for creative control and co-financing. That way, everybody still gets a taste and the characters can exist in the same universe.

[Zarex]

Originally Posted by kaijunexus

This is why I've stated numerous times that the best way to unify the MCU is to offer Fox/Sony permanent distribution rights of some sort in exchange for creative control and co-financing. That way, everybody still gets a taste and the characters can exist in the same universe.

I agree, though I can't see Disney offering permanent rights for any of their characters. Marvel made enough of those deals in the 90s to realize the words "in perpetuity" should never appear in any future contracts involving their characters.

The only "stick" that Disney/Marvel has regarding the FF and X-Men is in movie merchandising. I certainly don't think it was a coincidence that there was nary an X-Men: First Class action figure, t-shirt or backpack sprinkled among the Captain America and Thor displays at national discounters in 2011. And that stores were flooded with Spider-man merchandise in 2012 after Disney/Marvel bought back all of their merchandising rights from Sony.

I can't see Disney/Marvel taking retail space away from its Star Wars and Avengers franchises in 2015 to support the FF reboot. And while Fox's X-Men franchise had a few items for sale (Wolverine claws!), there was a ton of FF stuff available for the first two films, most of which ended up in our house: Stretchable Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch Mask and Gloves, Thing Hands and Feet, Fantasticar Playset, FF T-shirts and backpacks. If Disney/Marvel controls the merchandising rights, as they did with the Sony Spider-man joint venture, then Fox would be missing out on a potentially very valuable revenue stream - unless they were willing to make a deal.

[spideyboy_1111]

Originally Posted by Zarex

I agree, though I can't see Disney offering permanent rights for any of their characters. Marvel made enough of those deals in the 90s to realize the words "in perpetuity" should never appear in any future contracts involving their characters.

The only "stick" that Disney/Marvel has regarding the FF and X-Men is in movie merchandising. I certainly don't think it was a coincidence that there was nary an X-Men: First Class action figure, t-shirt or backpack sprinkled among the Captain America and Thor displays at national discounters in 2011. And that stores were flooded with Spider-man merchandise in 2012 after Disney/Marvel bought back all of their merchandising rights from Sony.

I can't see Disney/Marvel taking retail space away from its Star Wars and Avengers franchises in 2015 to support the FF reboot. And while Fox's X-Men franchise had a few items for sale (Wolverine claws!), there was a ton of FF stuff available for the first two films, most of which ended up in our house: Stretchable Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch Mask and Gloves, Thing Hands and Feet, Fantasticar Playset, FF T-shirts and backpacks. If Disney/Marvel controls the merchandising rights, as they did with the Sony Spider-man joint venture, then Fox would be missing out on a potentially very valuable revenue stream - unless they were willing to make a deal.

lets also keep in mind most of those "merchandising" is actually all made by Hasbro which currently holds the production rights to ALL of marvel.

with hasbro currently having the rights to both Marvel and Star Wars... it wouldn't really shock me if Disney eventually buys them out too..

[spideymouse]

Originally Posted by Zarex

I agree, though I can't see Disney offering permanent rights for any of their characters. Marvel made enough of those deals in the 90s to realize the words "in perpetuity" should never appear in any future contracts involving their characters.

The only "stick" that Disney/Marvel has regarding the FF and X-Men is in movie merchandising. I certainly don't think it was a coincidence that there was nary an X-Men: First Class action figure, t-shirt or backpack sprinkled among the Captain America and Thor displays at national discounters in 2011. And that stores were flooded with Spider-man merchandise in 2012 after Disney/Marvel bought back all of their merchandising rights from Sony.

I can't see Disney/Marvel taking retail space away from its Star Wars and Avengers franchises in 2015 to support the FF reboot. And while Fox's X-Men franchise had a few items for sale (Wolverine claws!), there was a ton of FF stuff available for the first two films, most of which ended up in our house: Stretchable Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch Mask and Gloves, Thing Hands and Feet, Fantasticar Playset, FF T-shirts and backpacks. If Disney/Marvel controls the merchandising rights, as they did with the Sony Spider-man joint venture, then Fox would be missing out on a potentially very valuable revenue stream - unless they were willing to make a deal.

Fittingly, the Invisible Woman merch was nowhere in sight!

[Marathon]

Hmm...

At any rate, DoFP will be the watershed moment... If it only, say, breaks even, would there be an opportunity there to seize upon the rights?

[Zarex]

Originally Posted by Marathon

Hmm...

At any rate, DoFP will be the watershed moment... If it only, say, breaks even, would there be an opportunity there to seize upon the rights?

Due to the sheer volume of the characters involved with the contract, Fox wouldn't turn over the rights to Disney without first receiving a check running into 10 figures. With the rights they hold Fox could turnover the X-Men roster yet again, put out the New Mutants movie proposed by their former studio head, release a Deadpool movie, or put out a cheap X Men Origins: Dazzler just to hold onto the film rights. Though less profitable on a per movie basis than Spider-man, the endless film possibilities involving the X Men represents a steady long-term income stream for Fox that they won't turn over to Disney/Marvel unless they pay dearly for it.

[Marathon]

If wish there was some God of Aesthetics out there who would intervene with the IP rights (lol) because Fox's handling of X-Men has been nothing sort of horrendous. Ideally the IP should be in a knowledgeable and passionate fan's hands. With studios it's just pure chance whether the exec is a myopic idiot (Rothman) or something else.

X-Men, perhaps more than anything, requires a strong vision and meticulous attention to detail when translating to the silver screen as a coherent universe. Fox has shown nothing of this sort, but unfortunately, they answer to no one.

Eh, I don't know... Perhaps some billionaire X-Men fan could buy the rights?

[YoungPrime]

If you all feel so strongly about Marvel getting the rights back for these franchises then put your money where you wallet is...which is back in your pocket.

If FOX's X-men films continue to see diminishing returns, FOX wont have a reason to hold on to these franchises...

Case in point there's a lot riding on The Wolverine. If that flops there's no way a Fantastic 4 reboot for March of 2015 will be successful therefor they'll likely pull the plug on it.

I also have faith that The Hobbit will crush X-men on 7/18/14. Thus putting the final nail in the FOX/Marvel coffin.

[Doc Ock]

While I'd love to see Marvel get the film rights to Spidey, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. I see alot of potential in The Wolverine, Days of Future Past, and TASM2.

But with the Fantastic Four I dearly wish Marvel had the rights back...like right now.