Marvel
Becomes Entertaining, Not Just Enterprising
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"uh...guys?
I'm still available..."
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Avi
Arad has finally gotten his way. After years of Arad pushing
Marvel to be more than just a comic book company and seeing
it as a property goldmine to rival Disney, the Hollywood Reporter
announced that Marvel is now Marvel Entertainment.
Big
deal, you say. A name change from Marvel Enterprises. It
is a big deal. With the name change comes the final step
from putting together movie deals to being a full-fledged
production company.
Earlier
this year, Marvel had announced an alliance with Paramount
Pictures under its new leadership of Brad Grey. (Another
reason DC's Watchmen project was put into turnaround
by Paramount?) Now the rumored terms are clear: Marvel will
develop and produce films based on their properties, while
Paramount will market and distribute. If the deal sounds
familiar, that's because it echoes the one Lucasfilm has
with 20th Century Fox. The lion's share of the glory and
the money (and perhaps blame) gets to stay with Marvel.
Some
major properties, of course, remain tied up with other studios.
You might argue, in fact, that all the really big guns are
out -- X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and even
the Silver Surfer are currently untouchable.
Lest
you think Marvel Entertainment will be spinning its wheels
turning straw into fools' gold, remember that for every
Man-Thing, there's a Blade. Arad himself
has publicly admitted that the recent Sci Fi channel film
failed because Marvel didn't pay enough attention to it.
That's all about to change.
Announced
for development (some from a previous development deal with
Artisan/Lion's Gate):
Captain
America
Avengers
Nick
Fury
(George Clooney has been said to be interested, as is Samuel
L. Jackson)
Black
Panther (Wesley Snipes' production company has been
working on this one)
Ant-Man
Cloak
and Dagger
Dr.
Strange
Hawkeye
(reports
of his death are grossly exaggerated)
Power
Pack
(once considered for television)
Shang-Chi
The
first film project has a target of Summer 2008, but Arad
has not specified which it will be.
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