Marvel should Pay off other studios for its licenses

[Mrs. Sawyer]

As a fan of Marvel, I love what they are doing with Marvel Studios. The 3 films released so far all had been great and I am excites about this potential Marvel film Universe they are building so far. While we will have the Avengers and many other lesser known Marvel characters make their appearances, I still fear that the Marvel Movie Universe will still feel incomplete. Thats because it will.

Because licenses to many Marvel films belong to other studios, Marvel can't use them in film. What's Marvel Universe (any Marvel Universe) without Spiderman, the X-men, Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four, etc. They are all essential characters to the universe and while I can live without them in the Avengers, I just feel that Marvel should have these characters back.

The quality of the films have been much better than what Fox and Sony have been throwing out at the audiences. Fox has been embarrassing for some time now and Sony does not know what to do with Spiderman, but often want to believe they do.

So I came up with this idea. Since Marvel/Disney wants the licenses back so badly, why not pay the companies off? Disney said they will be patient, but I've been hearing that they really want the licenses back. Rumors have been swirling that Disney wants to go for Lionsgate as its the easiest of the Marvel contracts to go after.

Anyway, why not pay off Fox and Sony for a load of money for the rights. I think if Disney Paid Fox gave Fox a $1 billion deal Fox certainly wouldn't turn away. Their most profitable films were X-men films, which only gave a profit of 200 million and its gets less from their with their other licenses.

I see it as a harder getting the Spiderman rights back. I think it may cost another seperate billion or $1.5 billion to Sony, but its Disney. They can afford to do it.

Why would they do it? The profits over time for these films would out-weight what they paid for. In the hands of Marvel Studios these films can makes huge profits that can will put them over. Especially with Disney. They market the hell out of each hero, and Marvel Studios has proven they can make pretty faithful adaptations. I also believe that Daredevil, Ghost Rider, and Fantastic Four can become bigger film franchises under Marvel.

I must remind everyone that it is completely hypothetical, but lets say Disney gave Fox an offer of $1 billion for X-men, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four plus other licenses Fox has, and Marvel gave another $1 billion for Spiderman and Ghost Rider. Would those companies consider it? And would it be a good idea for Disney/Marvel?

 

[bubbadoom]

I do not think Sony will give up Spidey or Fox the X-Men - the other characters have a better chance of going back to Marvel.

 

[venom892]

I can see Ghost Rider,Daredevil and Fantastic Four going back to Disney/Marvel.However Fox is going to keep making X-men movies until they drive it to the ground ans Sony isn't going to let go of it's most lucrative franchise.

 

[mr. peasant]

I don't think this idea is anywhere near remotely feasible. First off, Marvel can't throw around that kind of cash. $2.5 billion would be more than ten times their annual income and more than double their total assets. To give you an idea, Disney bought up the whole of Marvel at $4.24 billion. As for Disney, they can but would they want to? Sure, in time, these licenses could return some profit. However, would they get more by investing in other assets? I mean, Marvel is just a tiny fraction of the megacorp known as Walt Disney.

Also, the reason why Marvel's movies seem to have done well is because to date, they have only released three movies. We have yet to see how successful Captain America, Thor or the Avengers movies will be. Iron Man was a runaway success and so, it's sequel should garner a decent profit. Hulk, while profitable was considerably less so than Iron Man. Also, it should be mentioned that Marvel was careful in selecting its movies; choosing mainly those with maximum mass appeal potential and using their flagship titles. Stuff like Ghost Rider, Punisher, etc. would probably never be made by Marvel directly.

 

[Spider-Vader]

I really wish Disney would of bought Marvel BEFORE they started making movies. DC fans don't have to worry about this, especially now that WB realizes that good movies make good money.

 

[roach]

actually I dont see any franchise returning to Marvel anytime soon...If studios didnt want the properties they wouldnt be in a rush to get films done before the rights revert...FF, DD, GH, Xm and Spidey all have reboots in the works to keep the properties at the respective studios

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Well I don't see them going back either. The point of this thread is more a hypothetical situation. Lets say each studio were willing to negotiate with Marvel for the licences. how much money would it take for Marvel to get their licences from each studio?

 

[roach]

I think we are talking hundreds of millions for Spidey and X-men

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Yeah I'm thinking Spiderman and X-men would be the hardest. Maybe I was too light on X-men. Marvel/Disney would have to pay a billion each for those 2 franchises alone. The others would come much cheaper though. I would say Marvel would have to pay Fox $500 million for the other franchises. I still wonder how much they would have to pay for Ghost Rider.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

btw does anyone know the situation surrounding Namor? Does his rights still belong to Universal or not?

 

[roach]

recently Feige was asked what properties each studio had and he said that Universal had none...so Marvel has Namor

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

YES!!!! t:t:t:t:t:

 

[roach]

and it was alluded to in IM2

 

[chiefchirpa]

Why should Marvel expensively pay off few of their licenses when they still have a hundred more? At best Marvel/Disney can only do 3 movies per year and outsourcing some of the lesser licenses will increase the number of Marvel movies per year.

Of course, Fox has too many on their hands (F4 and Daredevil should be given back to Disney) but renegotiating the deals so 1) each outsourced movies should have binding Marvel consultants and 2) Marvel/Disney + Sony + Fox can become more integrated to one another will count toward better Marvel movie-verse.

 

[roach]

I was thinking about this the other day and my guess was correct when an interview on another site mentioned Marvel Studios isnt going to actively try to get the rights back. They arent going to try to get the rights because having the rights for Spider-man, X-men , FF and others out there is a big source of cashflow for Marve right now

 

[OB12]

I believe if Marvel/Disney wanted to press the issue, they could get F4, DD, GR, and Punisher back which would be a good get. Adding F4 into the MCU would be pretty awesome. The chances of getting Spidey and the X-men back are going to be pretty slim because there seems to be a lot of movement on those properties right now, but they should really approach Sony and Fox to see if they could work something out to at least include the characters in this universe. Maybe we couldn't get full-on crossovers but mentions and references wouldn't be bad.

 

[babykhris]

What I would do is slowly get the smaller characters and minorly add them to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For example let's say Marvel got The Punisher rights back I would have SHIELD capture The Punisher and send him to on a mission to stop threats under the radar for Fury as a modern day Thunderbolts.

 

[roach]

I believe if Marvel/Disney wanted to press the issue, they could get F4, DD, GR, and Punisher back which would be a good get. Adding F4 into the MCU would be pretty awesome. The chances of getting Spidey and the X-men back are going to be pretty slim because there seems to be a lot of movement on those properties right now, but they should really approach Sony and Fox to see if they could work something out to at least include the characters in this universe. Maybe we couldn't get full-on crossovers but mentions and references wouldn't be bad.

they could but they wont...it would over shadow the solo films at the other studios

 

[FaT_tONle]

I was thinking about this the other day and my guess was correct when an interview on another site mentioned Marvel Studios isnt going to actively try to get the rights back. They arent going to try to get the rights because having the rights for Spider-man, X-men , FF and others out there is a big source of cashflow for Marve right now

Pure greed on their part. I can understand X-Men and Spidey, but FF is bringing in mass loot for Marvel? GR? DD? I think not. Some of the leased properties are completely worthless now, outside of overpaying for Cage for a GR sequel.

I believe if Marvel/Disney wanted to press the issue, they could get F4, DD, GR, and Punisher back which would be a good get. Adding F4 into the MCU would be pretty awesome. The chances of getting Spidey and the X-men back are going to be pretty slim because there seems to be a lot of movement on those properties right now, but they should really approach Sony and Fox to see if they could work something out to at least include the characters in this universe. Maybe we couldn't get full-on crossovers but mentions and references wouldn't be bad.

Spot on. Sony should have some SHIELD or Stark references, especially if Oscorp is in the next reboot. Marvel probably wouldn't put up a hissy fit and it's all in good faith. Just helps making the transition back to Marvel all the more simpler.

 

[roach]

Pure greed on their part. I can understand X-Men and Spidey, but FF is bringing in mass loot for Marvel? GR? DD? I think not. Some of the leased properties are completely worthless now, outside of overpaying for Cage for a GR sequel.

Marvel doesnt make money off the profits of a movie. They make their money off the amount of money the studio is paying them to keep the franchise.

Spot on. Sony should have some SHIELD or Stark references, especially if Oscorp is in the next reboot. Marvel probably wouldn't put up a hissy fit and it's all in good faith. Just helps making the transition back to Marvel all the more simpler.

I'd rather they keep them separate until they get them back

 

[FaT_tONle]

I'm sure that's the case, but they also take in a small percent of the box office. 5% or so, which is decent for something like Spidey or X-Men. Fox is probably paying through the roof for X-Men as it is. I am saying jack up the prices for everyone, because these studios are scaling back and mailing it in, just to retain the rights. Whatever money Marvel WAS making from them, will be less than what they will be making in future reboots/spinoffs.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

I'm sure that's the case, but they also take in a small percent of the box office. 5% or so, which is decent for something like Spidey or X-Men. Fox is probably paying through the roof for X-Men as it is. I am saying jack up the prices for everyone, because these studios are scaling back and mailing it in, just to retain the rights. Whatever money Marvel WAS making from them, will be less than what they will be making in future reboots/spinoffs.

FOX is definitely making less and less money off the X-men series each film. I honestly can't see them making it through the decade with the film rights. The quality of these films are bad and there are few people that are excited about these films anymore.

Also, FOX's other Marvel films have problems getting off the ground due to little to no enthusiasm for it from all sides.

 

[Spider-Vader]

I think the Ghost Rider, FF & DD rights are hanging by a thread at this time.

 

[FaT_tONle]

I think the Ghost Rider, FF & DD rights are hanging by a thread at this time.

I'm sure you are assuming like the rest of us. Fox had movie rights for X-Men since 93. We didn't get a film until 2000. Until we know exactly what the deal is, I don't think we can say either way. Someone has to really pry Marvel/Disney's lawyers and get the exact details from them. If I had to guess, I'd say we need a minimum five year lapse before Marvel can even aggressively act to repossess a given property should they chose to. Hulk made sense because the movie bombed, but he was still an A-list character that was vital to the universe. X-Men, Spidey, FF doesn't fit what Marvel wants to do right now I would think... although I can't imagine Marvel is happy with Fox for rushing First Class for 2011. It is clearly going to compete with marketing Thor/Cap and it's the first time a Marvel studios will overlap with another major Marvel movie within a month of each other.

 

[babykhris]

If I was Marvel/Disney I would go after the Lionsgate properties (Punisher & Man-Thing) and maybe Blade, then try to get selective characters back from properties from FOX and Sony like maybe Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Super Skrull.