More Details on the Disney-Marvel Acquisition

Earlier today, after the biggest storyline development at Disney since Lost started using flash forwards, CEO Robert Iger joined a conference call (via Slashfilm) to explain the motivations behind the company's acquisition of Marvel Enterprises. It's one of the biggest media mergers in some time, and for Disney, probably the most significant move since acquiring Pixar for about $7 billion a few years ago. Speaking of Pixar, that's one thing Iger didn't shy away from in the conference call. It seems possible that Marvel and Pixar will work together on some projects in the future. Obviously, we don't know what those titles would be or what the finished products would look like, but Iger said of the proposal, "We’ve talked about this internally. Pixar boss John Lasseter talked to the Marvel guys about this and they all got excited about it. We think there’s ultimately some exciting product that [could come] of that. Sparks will fly!" Yes, that is a rather interesting direction for both Marvel and Pixar, albeit one that doesn't seem like the best immediate fit. Perhaps if we're not talking about "Pixar" in the summer blockbuster sense and "Marvel" in the traditional animation sense, then the sky could be the limit. After all, one of Iger's major reasons for getting the deal done was to have access to all those thousands of characters, and it's not like they're all going to be in The Avengers, even though it may seem that way. When the deal was announced, my initial reaction was that we'd see a lot of home video product develop out of this, and Iger more or less confirmed that this morning. Marvel has backlogged product waiting to be explored and nobody, anywhere, has a more sophisticated and successful model for the home video market than Disney.

"As we’ve said, we think DVD market changing for reasons other than poor economy. But we think people are still buying discs that appeal to their kids, and that’s helped us. As we analyzed Marvel we factored in DVD concerns into equation. Marvel characters “aren’t bulletproof” but we think they’re better positioned than most."

On another note, Iger seems committed to letting Marvel be Marvel, saying the goal is not to "re-brand" Marvel as Disney. Whether or not you want to take him at his word is up to you. Disney has had some rogue elements before, including the heyday of Miramax Films, which it purchased for $70 million back in 1993. Up until the Fahrenheit 9/11 imbroglio, involving Flordia governor Jeb Bush and perceived pressure on Disney not to distribute the film, Bob and Harvey Weinstein enjoyed an almost unprecedented run of small studio success. Certainly, at some point, people will leave the company and other things will change, organically or not, and the Marvel we know won't be the Marvel that is. But at least for the time being, it doesn't sound nefarious. Iger believes Marvel is working so well he'd be a fool to change it, and you can't really argue with that. One final note on the conference call: Disney will honor the agreements Marvel already has in place for its filmed content, meaning Fox would retain X-Men rights, Sony keeps Spider-Man, and Paramount is in control of the Avengers arc. At least, that's how it will work until those contracts expire. After that, Disney plans to release all the Marvel films itself.

Comments

[MRPigg]

Maybe one good thing that could come out of this is to have Brad Bird write The Avengers.

[Get The Big Picture]

Hear, hear.

[Agburns]

Brad Bird already made the best super hero team-up movie to come out this decade, probably even longer than that. "The Incredibles" is the movie that fantastic four or the X-men could have been with proper direction and story telling. The next film that Bird makes will be, i believe, very different. Something about the quake in San Fran, early 1900's. It will be great, sure, but it will also be live action, thats one decision I don't like.

[Get The Big Picture]

The live-action for Bird doesn't bother me, because he's such a fantastic storyteller, maybe one of the best pure storytellers working right now. If he hires a great cinematographer, which shouldn't be much of a problem, he'll be fine.

[andrew]

pixar should adapt the runaways!! look it up. perfect fit i think for both pixar and marvel! anyone from marvel or disney or pixar reading this should seriously consider this!!