"Marvel is running out of cash" says David Poland

[TheVileOne]

David Poland was on G4's Attack of the Show tonight to talk about the acquisition. He made some rather concerning observations:

-He said that Marvel was running out of cash, and even though Iron Man was a big success, the Hulk movie was not.

-He said the Disney merger means more cash for the coiffers and that if Marvel runs out of money for the movies, Disney will have funding ready for them.

-He suggested after Iron Man 2, the movies that were originally planned might not take place because they are so expensive. He said Disney might kill Thor and Avengers because they might not be willing to pay for Thor. The suggestion was basically there that there isn't money to pay for the other three movies and Disney might not want to oblige.

-He said Disney might want more of the movies to be PG to reach a wider audience and also said the built in demographic for these movies is very "narrow."

-He said the publishing model will probably stay same based off of how Miramax was run which had very edgy and hardcore stuff, so lines like MAX and Icon probably won't go away.

-He says fanboys throw a fit about everything, even when "someone sheds a tear," I think he's probably referring to Spider-man movies there.

 

[FaT_tONle]

Honestly, who the **** is Dave Poland? Never heard of him. We need something from the Marvel camp NOW. I honestly don't buy any of this. Out of money? After IM2 I think they will be rethinking that.

 

[Octoberist]

he's like Nikki Finke who's like this Hollywood insider/blogger

 

[Kingfish]

This honestly just sounds like one man stirring **** up to get more notice. None of what he mentions is anywhere close to actually happening yet, and is essentially his own speculation.

 

[FaT_tONle]

Well I was one of the guys telling people not to downplay TIH's box office numbers. I am not going back to beat the dead horse, but maybe those lack luster numbers just finally caught up to Marvel's finances. Maybe Disney feels they can't make 400 million plus on Thor/Cap WW. I just can't imagine a nightmare like that. X-Men movies with Fox in recent years would pale in comparison.

 

[Octoberist]

I do have to say, that he might be full of it, but I don't want to dismiss him just yet either...

 

[TheVileOne]

Its possibly speculation. I just wonder where he's got the information to make such bold accussations.

However, I've been wondering about Marvel's financial situation for a while especially on the studio end and where the financing is coming from for what they are currently planning.

 

[Octoberist]

yeah, i'm not saying he's right, but he's playing the Devil's Advocate.

 

[TheVileOne]

Also just FYI, I'm going to be heading to the Disney/D23 conference next weekend in Anaheim. It's basically Disney's annual industry convention. Think E3, but just strictly Disney. I'll try to get some answers while I'm there.

 

[JLR]

Within a year, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney acquired Paramount from Viacom. Many of Paramount's successes can be attributed to existing relationships with other companies (Hasbro, Dreamworks...Marvel). They've already lost Dreamworks to Disney and now Marvel is being bought by them as well. I wouldn't say that they get sold off because of Disney's acquisition of Marvel, but it definitely pushes a potential sale along. Paramount doesn't have many strong franchises remaining that it actually owns ("Star Trek" and possibly "Indiana Jones" withstanding).

Call me crazy, but I would definitely watch what happens to Paramount over the next year because I would seriously be surprised if it doesn't get sold off. This of course would allow Disney to fully own and distribute all of the new Marvel films.

 

[Chewy]

Call me crazy, but I would definitely watch what happens to Paramount over the next year because I would seriously be surprised if it doesn't get sold off. This of course would allow Disney to fully own and distribute all of the new Marvel films.

I believe that in that scenario whoever purchased Paramount would inherit their Marvel contract, it wouldn't simply cease to exist

 

[TheVileOne]

Well GI JOE definitely didn't do the business Paramount/Hasbro wanted no matter what they say. That movie cost a **** load to make too.

 

[FaT_tONle]

What if the Paramount/Sony merger happens? Maybe Spidey would give them more leverage? Perhaps they can battle to retain Avengers characters or at least a distribution fee for future Avenger films with the combined backing of Sony? Just a thought. Though the issue here isn't Paramount, it's an interesting observation nonetheless.

 

[TheVileOne]

How the hell does that give them more leverage?

Do you get it man. Marvel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney now. Sony doesn't have the Avengers. I don't think there's any way they could put Avengers under another tent right now.

Sony already paid Marvel to license out Spider-man to make Spider-man movies.

 

[Octoberist]

I've been somewhat hard at Warner Bros for not taking risks with their DC properties, pointing out the ambitious film plan that Marvel's got, but I guess there's a bitter sense of irony if Poland is right.

 

[FaT_tONle]

How the hell does that give them more leverage?

Do you get it man. Marvel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney now. Sony doesn't have the Avengers. I don't think there's any way they could put Avengers under another tent right now.

Sony already paid Marvel to license out Spider-man to make Spider-man movies.

They don't have leverage, but maybe Paramount together with Sony would give them financial backing to maybe extend the distribution deal for a lower percentage, a renegotiation or sorts. That's all I was saying. I am sure Disney's patience will eventually run thin. Just throwing out an idea.

 

[Matt Murdock]

Guy sounds like an idiot.

 

[TheVileOne]

http://g4tv.com/videos/41060/Understanding-Disneys-Marvel-Purchase/

Here's the full interview link.

 

[LostSon88]

Does this guy seriously think that Disney would go so far as to cancel Thor or The Avengers because they'd be "too expensive"?

Gimme a f'n break.

 

[04nbod]

I don't believe that Marvel lost money on Hulk, they can't have not broke even with DVD sales and Pay per view

 

[mightiest_mortal]

Reasons why even a five year old could see this guy is a moron :

-He said that Marvel was running out of cash, and even though Iron Man was a big success, the Hulk movie was not.

The Incredible Hulk movie was made on a total budget of 150 million.
To date including DVD sales it has made about 350 million.
Granted it didnt do as well as Iron Man, but i wouldn't class it as a negative for Marvel.

-He suggested after Iron Man 2, the movies that were originally planned might not take place because they are so expensive. He said Disney might kill Thor and Avengers because they might not be willing to pay for Thor.

IF there was a good script and team behind it, Disney wouldn't care. If anything Thor with all the magical fantasy elements would be more up there alley.
IronMan did well because it was a damn good movie. He was never anywhere near as popular as the likes of Batman/Spiderman/Hulk. A good Thor movie could make him just as popular.

-He said Disney might want more of the movies to be PG to reach a wider audience and also said the built in demographic for these movies is very "narrow."

Seriously? narrow?
Spiderman and DarkKnight have done pretty well for themselves for films with such a 'narrow demographic'.

-He says fanboys throw a fit about everything, even when "someone sheds a tear," I think he's probably referring to Spider-man movies there.

Die hard Fanboys are a minute fraction of the people buying the comics, let alone going to see the films. Movie Studios do not care.

 

[Grommers]

Breaking even isn't good business for a company always looking to increase in size, but it easily made money as it made something like an additional 100 million worldwide on top of its budget just in theatres. I really think that Marvel was looking for additional money to get there films on the run, and I think disney will provide them with that especially since I believe they dropped Narnia?(correct me if i'm wrong)

Like many others have said it looks just like this guy is trying to get his name out there, but he should of done his research...

 

[Matt Murdock]

I'd just like to point out: there's no way in hell Disney'll cancel the Marvel films, since the only films that have actually made any real money for them in the past decade have been Pixar ambitions. All of their motion-picture money has come from an out-of-house source. The same will be said with Marvel.

 

[Evil Twin]

I think there's a good reason to be cautious about The Avengers. It's likely going to be a very expensive movie. And there's no guarantee, since the target audience overlaps, that there's going to be any additive effect of teaming up Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and The Hulk. There's a significant chance that Iron Man's audience is the ceiling, not the floor for a teamup.

I also think it's wise to consider that there are no slam dunks at this point. Thor could just as easily do Beowulf or Hulk numbers as it could Iron Man numbers. Yeah, properties can surprise, but if I'm putting money down, I'm putting Captain America and Thor as likely to be less popular than Wolverine. And setting budgets accordingly.

 

[JLR]

I believe that in that scenario whoever purchased Paramount would inherit their Marvel contract, it wouldn't simply cease to exist

Sorry, I should have been more specific. If Disney buys Paramount, then the would be able to inherit the said contract and there would be no concern that Marvel characters were spread throughout different studios. Sure, FOX, SONY and Universal would still have a good chunk of them, but all the new franchises would be through Disney.

If someone like Sony purchased Paramount, then yes, that would be an issue. However, Sony is losing lots of money too, so I doubt they would purchase Paramount.

Disney wants to make money, just like every other company and I think they may look at Paramount in the near future as a way to profit from that. Like I mentioned, I don't think Paramount is really doing as well as some people may believe, but they do have the Marvel characters and a few other franchises that could be used by Disney (the aforementioned "Star Trek" and "Transformers").

Just my opinion though.