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Marvel Studios is an American television and motion picture studio based in Beverly Hills, California.
[edit] BackgroundMarvel Studios was formed in the late 1990s following Revlon CEO Ronald Perelman's acquisition of parent company Marvel Entertainment. This resulted in the re-entry of Marvel into the motion picture and television business. Marvel Studios was formerly headed by Avi Arad from May 13, 1993, (as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer), until October 1998, when he took on other duties within the company such as executive producer for the studios’ film output.[1] A $525 million non-recourse debt financing for up to ten films produced using Marvel was completed in September 2004. In 2005, Michael Helfant joined the studio as President and Chief Operating Officer.[2] In March 2007, David Maisel was named Chairman and Kevin Feige was named President of Production as Iron Man began filming.[3] In 2008, Marvel Studios signed a lease with Raleigh Studios to host its headquarters and production offices and film the next four movies on the studios’ slate, including Iron Man 2, at their Manhattan Beach facilities.[4] On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced that it intended to purchase Marvel Studios' parent company Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Both Marvel and Disney have stated that the merger won't affect any preexisting deals with other studios for the time being[5], although Disney said they will consider producing future Marvel projects with their own studios once the current deals expire.[6] [edit] History[edit] Marvel Entertainment's initiativeIn the late 1970s up to the early 1990s, Marvel Entertainment Group sold options to studios to produce films based on Marvel Comics characters. Spider-Man, one of Marvel’s superheroes, was optioned in the late 1970s, and rights reverted back to Marvel in April 1996 without a film having been produced. From 1986 to 1996, most of Marvel’s major characters had been optioned, including the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Daredevil, Hulk, Silver Surfer, and Iron Man, with no films produced.[7] In opposition, Marvel's rival DC Comics had success licensing its properties Superman and Batman into blockbuster films.[8] In August 1996, Marvel’s chairman Ronald Perelman decided to create Marvel Studios, filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise money to finance the creation. Marvel sold its own stocks and stocks from Perelman’s stock in Toy Biz, which Marvel had started and took public in February 1995.[7] Toy Biz filed an offering of 7.5 million shares with a closing price of $20.125 at the time, making the offering worth approximately $150 million. Toy Biz sought to sell 1 million shares, and Marvel sought to sell 2.5 million shares.[9] Jerry Calabrese, the president of Marvel Comics Group, and Avi Arad, the CEO of animation-based Marvel Productions and a director of Toy Biz, were assigned tandem control of Marvel Studios. Under Calabrese and Arad, Marvel sought to control pre-production by commissioning scripts, hiring directors, and casting characters, providing the package to a major studio partner for filming and distribution. Arad said of the goal for control, "When you get into business with a big studio, they are developing a hundred or 500 projects; you get totally lost. That isn't working for us. We're just not going to do it anymore. Period."[7] Marvel Studios arranged a seven-year development deal with 20th Century Fox to cover markets in the United States and internationally.[10] In the following December, Marvel Entertainment was threatened with bankruptcy and went through a reorganization plan, including Marvel Studios as part of its strategic investment.[11] By 1997, Marvel Studios was actively pursuing various film productions based on Marvel characters, including the eventual films X-Men (2000), Daredevil (2003) and Fantastic Four (2005). Unproduced projects included Prince Namor, based on the character Namor and to be directed by Philip Kaufman, and Mort the Dead Teenager, based on the comic book of the same name and written by John Payson and Mort creator Larry Hama.[12] [edit] Forerunners: Blade and X-MenThe first film licensed by Marvel Studios was Blade, based on the vampire hunter Blade. The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and starred Wesley Snipes as Blade. It was released on August 21, 1998, grossing $70,087,718 in the United States and Canada and $131,183,530 worldwide.[13] Blade was followed by X-Men, which was directed by Bryan Singer and was released on July 14, 2000. X-Men grossed $157,299,717 in the United States and Canada and $296,250,053 worldwide.[14] The Marvel films Blade and X-Men demonstrated that blockbuster films could be made out of comic book characters not familiar to the general public.[15] Leading up to X-Men's release, Marvel Studios negotiated a deal with then-functional Artisan Entertainment, successful with the low-budget The Blair Witch Project, to give the studio rights to 15 Marvel characters including Captain America, Thor, Black Panther, Iron Fist, and Deadpool. With the deal at the time, 24 Marvel properties were then in various stages of development. Brian Cunningham, editor of Wizard comic book magazine, believed that Avi Arad was successful in organizing strategic alliances and exercising fiscal responsibility in multimedia expansion. Cunningham said of Arad’s leadership of the studio following its parent company’s near-bankruptcy, "The fact the X-Men is primed to be the biggest movie of the summer speaks volumes about the turnaround for Marvel. From my observation, he's focused on a lot more in diversifying Marvel, doing things that proliferate Marvel characters in the mainstream." Arad sought to protect Marvel’s image by serving as executive producer in all Marvel film productions and being responsible for crossover marketing between Marvel properties. Arad had properties set up at different studios to create momentum so one studio would not cannibalize efforts with one property for the sake of another.[16] By 2001, the success of Marvel Entertainment’s Ultimate Marvel comics created leverage in Hollywood for Marvel Studios, pushing more properties into development.[17] The next blockbuster film from Marvel Studios was Spider-Man, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man. The film was released on May 3, 2002, grossing $403,706,375 in the United States and Canada and $821,708,551 worldwide.[18] The early success of Spider-Man led the film's studio to issue a seven-figure advance for a sequel. Arad spoke of the deal, "Movies make sequels. Therefore, it's a big economic luxury to know that a movie's going to get a second and third. This is a business of precedence."[19] In producing Marvel films in the 2000s, Avi Arad sought to capture the superheroes’ internal conflicts. According to The New York Times, "Mr. Arad's great accomplishment – and it is one, given the difficulties in transferring any kind of printed material to the big screen – is conveying what makes those heroes tick as characters... He works with the filmmakers to ensure that the heroes are conflicted, the villains motivated, the outcome shaded." In contrast to the original storylines of DC Comics’ Superman and Batman films, Marvel films was more directly inspired by its comics, copying from them set pieces, scenes, plots, and dialogue.[15] [edit] Co-productionsMarvel Studio films produced with the assistance of other studios contain flipping images of various Marvel superheroes during the opening credits (Spider-Man film series, Daredevil, X2, Blade: Trinity, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, & X-Men Origins: Wolverine) while others have images of comics involving the namesake superhero(s) of that particular film (Hulk, both Fantastic Four films, The Punisher, X-Men: The Last Stand, Ghost Rider, etc.). The film Punisher: War Zone was associated with Marvel Knights, an offshoot production logo from Marvel Studios, based on the comic book imprint of the same name. Like the imprint, its films will be targeted towards mature audiences. [edit] Independent filmsMarvel Studios' self-produced films show the Marvel Studios logo with the accompanying comic book panels, but with "Studios" appearing under Marvel. In 2005, Variety reported that Marvel Studios would start producing their own films and distribute them through Paramount Pictures.[20] The funding will come from a seven year $525 million revolving credit facility with Merrill Lynch.[21] Since the announcement, Marvel's film slate has expanded to include:
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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