The Rebooted "Keep Hope Alive" (that the rights can revert back to Marvel) Thread - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 23

[Marvel united]

In case anyone needed anymore explicit confirmation, it was made clear during a Q&A with Bob Iger earlier today that X-Men & F4 will be handed to Kevin Feige.
“The films will move under Kevin Feige.”
12/14/2017 2:20 PM PT
(Credit @ManaByte)

Huh, was hoping that it was from today but still. I don't think anything Iger said today implies that the X-Men will continue under Fox

 

[WeaponXCII]

Well that was... disappointing. I was hoping that in the earnings call they would divulge a timeline- even a rough one- or maybe updates on international approvals. Something. Oh well, at least the deal is essentially guaranteed and there's nothing left to do but wait.

What's the next big event (conference call, press release, etc.) that might contain pertinent information for us regarding the deal?

 

[Darkprime]

Well that was... disappointing. I was hoping that in the earnings call they would divulge a timeline- even a rough one- or maybe updates on international approvals. Something. Oh well, at least the deal is essentially guaranteed and there's nothing left to do but wait.

What's the next big event (conference call, press release, etc.) that might contain pertinent information for us regarding the deal?

Maybe the Q4 earnings call. Its closer to the end of the year where some actual progress might have been made.

The big step for this quarter was the shareholder approval. The next few months will involve lots of wine and dining to make sure it gets regulatory approval.

 

[UltimatePyro9]

I'd love if marvel skipped the phoenix deal and death of Jean. Just let her character exist. You can still give her the phoenix force but that whole saga is a bit played out.

Especially since TWO X-Men films dealing Phoenix were made. One that wasn’t all that great. The other film... we shall see. I mean Simon Kinberg, a producer of Fant4stic, is directing this. I’m sure he’ll pull it... it... t: yeah I can’t finish that sentence.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

In case anyone needed anymore explicit confirmation, it was made clear during a Q&A with Bob Iger earlier today that X-Men & F4 will be handed to Kevin Feige.
“The films will move under Kevin Feige.”
12/14/2017 2:20 PM PT
(Credit @ManaByte)

well would you look at that

guess they won't be "separate from disney" after all!

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Disney CEO Teases Plans For X-Men, Fantastic Four, Deadpool & More

Hmm, interesting that Iger mentioned Fantastic Four. Given how tarnished the brand after FFINO I would suspect that Iger would just mention X-Men but I think Iger sees potential in the First Family. Of course he could just mentioning FF purely because they are the part of the Marvel rights Fox owns but still the fact that he would mention that Disney does plan to use the FF is interesting nonetheless.

Frankly there’s nothing really revealing that’s been said in this earnings call.

I think it’s the time for Fantastic Four. They’re building excitement with the comic return, and I suspect they have a plan to ride that through to a film.

The X-Men, on the other hand, particularly after Dark Phoenix, will need a bit of a break. But they’ll be coming soon enough.

 

[Darkprime]

Disney CEO Teases Plans For X-Men, Fantastic Four, Deadpool & More

Hmm, interesting that Iger mentioned Fantastic Four. Given how tarnished the brand after FFINO I would suspect that Iger would just mention X-Men but I think Iger sees potential in the First Family. Of course he could just mentioning FF purely because they are the part of the Marvel rights Fox owns but still the fact that he would mention that Disney does plan to use the FF is interesting nonetheless.

Frankly there’s nothing really revealing that’s been said in this earnings call.

He also mentions adding planet of the apes to their portfolio. Hopefully that means new planet of the apes.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

So I take it the R-rated stuff will be released through 21CF once all is said done? Like Deadpool 3 could be labeled a 21CF/Marvel Studios production but distributed through Buena Vista?

 

[Detective Conan]

Disney Reports Rare Earnings Miss

Hmm.

 

[WeaponXCII]

Maybe the Q4 earnings call. Its closer to the end of the year where some actual progress might have been made.

The big step for this quarter was the shareholder approval. The next few months will involve lots of wine and dining to make sure it gets regulatory approval.

I definitely had a feeling it would be that (because, y'know, Q4 follows Q3 ).

I don't suppose they have the Q4 earnings call scheduled yet, do they?

 

[ADollarADay]

So I take it the R-rated stuff will be released through 21CF once all is said done? Like Deadpool 3 could be labeled a 21CF/Marvel Studios production but distributed through Buena Vista?

Makes more sense for Deadpool 3 to go under Marvel Max/Marvel Knights and 21CF releases R rated stuff like Aliens, Die Hard, Predator, Revenant, Something about Mary, etc.

 

[Darkprime]

They did mention the timeline will depend a lot on Fox completing its acquisition of Sky and the time it takes to sell off the RSNs. Still a bit vague but they also mentioned increased growth in Q4. It sounds like they expect the deal to close in Q4 that would line up with the first half of 2019 estimation from Fox.

 

[Venom 1988]

I definitely had a feeling it would be that (because, y'know, Q4 follows Q3 ).

I don't suppose they have the Q4 earnings call scheduled yet, do they?

not sure but today's call was a little over a month after Q3 ended.. So with Q4 ending at the end of September the call might be at the beginning of November.

 

[Darkprime]

Interesting to note spiderman was the biggest money maker in merchandise this quarter for Disney driven by homecoming and infinity war.

 

[Marvel united]

Interesting to note spiderman was the biggest money maker in merchandise this quarter for Disney driven by homecoming and infinity war.

There's Disney reason for why they should renegotiate with Sony

 

[WeaponXCII]

Especially since TWO X-Men films dealing Phoenix were made. One that wasn’t all that great. The other film... we shall see. I mean Simon Kinberg, a producer of Fant4stic, is directing this. I’m sure he’ll pull it... it... t: yeah I can’t finish that sentence.

I've seen this argument being made a lot, but, using these points, wouldn't a Marvel Studios adaptation of the Dark Phoenix Saga be different by virtue of (in all likelihood- let's not fool ourselves here) being good?

 

[DyfeddRex]

I definitely had a feeling it would be that (because, y'know, Q4 follows Q3 ).

I don't suppose they have the Q4 earnings call scheduled yet, do they?

I don't know, I mean, Kang is coming home, so he might do something to screw up the timeline so the new world order is Q2/Q1/Qx/Q0....

 

[UltimatePyro9]

I've seen this argument being made a lot, but, using these points, wouldn't a Marvel Studios adaptation of the Dark Phoenix Saga be different by virtue of (in all likelihood- let's not fool ourselves here) being good?

Because good or not, doing yet another Phoenix Saga adaptation would be repetitive at this point. It would feel unimaginative to redo the Saga by this point since the audience has seen it already (even if it isn't all that great). At least Spider-Man Homecoming did different things with the character that hasn't been seen in his other movies.

 

[ADollarADay]

Interesting to note spiderman was the biggest money maker in merchandise this quarter for Disney driven by homecoming and infinity war.

You misread/misheard it:

Consumer Products & Interactive Media
Consumer Products & Interactive Media revenues decreased 8% to $1.0 billion and segment
operating income decreased 10% to $324 million. The decrease in operating income was due to lower
income from licensing activities and decreased comparable retail store sales, partially offset by lower
costs at our games business.
The decrease in income from licensing activities was driven by lower revenue from products based
on Spider-Man and Cars, partially offset by an increase from products based on Avengers.

The decline in licensing was driven by lower revenue from the sale of Spider Man and Cars merchandise as both properties benefited from theatrical film releases in the prior year, partially offset by higher revenue from Avengers merchandise. We expect some of the headwinds that impacted our Consumer Products business in Q3 will also impact the business in the fourth quarter.

There's Disney reason for why they should renegotiate with Sony

Sounds like wishful thinking.

This is in line with what we have seen from the leaked documents. Classical spider-man merchandise is pretty consistent year round where, obviously, there's a spike when a movie releases. There will probably be a spike in Venom merchandise (even though its availability is limited) even if the movie sucks. There'll also probably be a spike after Spiderverse in December.

 

[Zarex]

I ended up listening to the conference call and I found a couple of points to be interesting:

1) The Disney streaming service doesn't go live until late 2019. The timing may work for a New Mutants streaming debut, but Disney may not want to debut a new Fox X-Men film after international regulatory approval is received and Feige gets full control over the mutants. This may be good news for those hoping for a Dark Phoenix theater release.

2) The company is going forward with a three leg approach to streaming, with ESPN+, Disneyflix (?) and Hulu all filling separate niches. Iger mentioned that they will be distinct services - they aren't trying to recreate the cable packages people are moving away from - but there may be bundling options available later.

3) I'm not feeling the same enthusiasm for Hulu that I'm seeing with the other streamers. Both ESPN Plus (Serie A, UFC, Top Rank boxing, MLB, NHL, College Football) and Disneyflix (Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney, NatGeo) are getting lots of pricey goodies while (unless I missed it) we didn't hear about Hulu investment. That may be because the two newer streamers are still in the launch phase. But I wouldn't be surprised if Disney loses a leg and sells of at least a portion of that business.

4) There were multiple mentions of National Geographic, which hadn't been a major focus of earlier discussions of the merger. It is a great fit for the company's Disneynature studio and Animal Kingdom park. Iger mentioned that original content from the acquisition would be going on the streaming service and the company may use the brand for expansion in ecotourism.

5) No mention of Blue Sky. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney hangs onto the existing IP and shutters the studio.

 

[ADollarADay]

I ended up listening to the conference call and I found a couple of points to be interesting:

1) The Disney streaming service doesn't go live until late 2019. The timing may work for a New Mutants streaming debut, but Disney may not want to debut a new Fox X-Men film after international regulatory approval is received and Feige gets full control over the mutants. This may be good news for those hoping for a Dark Phoenix theater release.

2) The company is going forward with a three leg approach to streaming, with ESPN+, Disneyflix (?) and Hulu all filling separate niches. Iger mentioned that they will be distinct services - they aren't trying to recreate the cable packages people are moving away from - but there may be bundling options available later.

3) I'm not feeling the same enthusiasm for Hulu that I'm seeing with the other streamers. Both ESPN Plus (Serie A, UFC, Top Rank boxing, MLB, NHL, College Football) and Disneyflix (Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney, NatGeo) are getting lots of pricey goodies while (unless I missed it) we didn't hear about Hulu investment. That may be because the two newer streamers are still in the launch phase. But I wouldn't be surprised if Disney loses a leg and sells of at least a portion of that business.

4) There were multiple mentions of National Geographic, which hadn't been a major focus of earlier discussions of the merger. It is a great fit for the company's Disneynature studio and Animal Kingdom park. Iger mentioned that original content from the acquisition would be going on the streaming service and the company may use the brand for expansion in ecotourism.

5) No mention of Blue Sky. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney hangs onto the existing IP and shutters the studio.

1) We knew that was the timing of release for Disneyflix. Nothing new here.

3) Iger has said before Disney is very bullish on Hulu. I see them wanting to take it all in house before they divest it. They can't mention much of their plans for it now as they are still a minority owner, but we know things like Aliens, Predator, Sunny, Deadpool, Punisher etc will end up on it sooner or later

4) I agree. Disneynature will probably go under NatGeo (though I'm not sure as they will only own 73% of it). I'm looking forward to this eco tourism thing. Either a discovery cove like experience, specific eco like cruises, or something out of nowhere like safari trips

5) I fully expect them to trim off the fat and use Blue Sky in the ways that DisneyToon was intended, especially as the 25-75MM budget works well for the streaming service. Original IPs, new animated movies for Marvel, Avatar, Lucas will be something that Blue Sky can work on. Alternatively I can see them doing what you suggested.

 

[Saitou Hajime]

Because good or not, doing yet another Phoenix Saga adaptation would be repetitive at this point. It would feel unimaginative to redo the Saga by this point since the audience has seen it already (even if it isn't all that great).

I'd argue that Fox's adaptations are so removed from the original story and barely scratches the surface of it that Marvel Studios can do their take on it and it'll be radically different enough to distinguish it from the Fox versions. They can always rebrand the movies to further get away from the Phoenix connotation even if it's still technically involves the Phoenix.

 

[GoblinScrier]

I know its a hype article but wouldn't this be a beautiful thing?

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1000537/Avengers-4-spoiler-cameo-Doctor-Doom-untitled-Avengers-4-victor-von-doom

 

[Smurphftw]

I know its a hype article but wouldn't this be a beautiful thing?

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1000537/Avengers-4-spoiler-cameo-Doctor-Doom-untitled-Avengers-4-victor-von-doom

That article gets off to a rough start. She makes a factually inaccurate statement in the very first sentence.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I know its a hype article but wouldn't this be a beautiful thing?

https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1000537/Avengers-4-spoiler-cameo-Doctor-Doom-untitled-Avengers-4-victor-von-doom

Yes, it would be cool, but unfortunately it has close to zero chance of happening.

I actually think Galactus is slightly more likely and I've never completely discounted the idea that Marvel and Fox worked a deal for Galactus and Surfer prior to the buy-out (based on a number of circumstantial tidbits that we've discussed on here).

But I think it's less likely that they have the rights to Doom, particularly since Fox has publicly said they're working on a Doom film.

With that said, to illustrate I'm not crazy, allow me to go a little crazy now...


If I were Fox in 2015, I would have realized that our studio killed the FF. I also would be looking at the deal Sony made with Marvel and realizing how powerful integrating the characters with the MCU was. I would have, with that in mind, at least discussed with Marvel the possibility of working together on some things. It's still unlikely, but not entirely impossible, that the Fox Doom and rumored Silver Surfer (https://nerdist.com/silver-surfer-movie/) films might have been planned to be produced in cooperation with Marvel. If that's the case, something could have been arranged prior to the buy-out that would give Marvel use of the characters. That's still a big stretch, but since it would have made so much sense for Fox to try something like that, it's not impossible.