Thankfully, a cooling marine layer blew in over L.A. Tuesday morning, which shifted the balance a bit for exhausted firefighters battling the huge Station fire which has destroyed some 63 homes and threatens some 12,000. “The Station fire grew to more than 122,000 acres overnight and continued to burn out of control despite some signs of improving weather conditions,” reported the LAT. UPDATE 4:20 PM: “Firefighters made significant progress today in the Station fire, but a tense battle was underway this afternoon to save the communication centers atop Mt. Wilson. By 3 p.m., the fire was approaching closer than ever from two directions: one-half mile to the north and three-quarters of a mile to the west.” Here’s a NASA space photo from Sunday—the fire is now twice as big.

Marvel Update:
Most Hollywood folks seem to understand the need of the guys running to Marvel to cash out while the going was good. I worry that an indie outfit that sought to protect its characters and not play by the Hollywood rules will now succumb to them. Disney came out ahead on the deal, even if they paid dearly. The question remains whether Marvel can keep its autonomy and continue to play smart. Here’s the LAT’s Patrick Goldstein and the WSJ.

Most Hollywood folks know more about Marvel’s Avi Arad and production chief Kevin Feige than Ike Perlmutter, the man behind the $4 billion Disney deal. Kim Masters reveals the man behind Marvel, and the NYT reports that he scored a $1.4 billion payday.

Media Watch
Good news: while newsstand sales are down 12.4% in the first half of 2009, some magazine subscriptions actually went up.

The Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit may offer insight into the future of indie film distribution. [Hat Tip: Ted Hope]

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by Anne Thompson, posted to Franchises, Hulk, Iron Man, Genres, Comics, Hollywood, Studios, Disney/Miramax on September 1, 2009 at 3:43pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

News

Disney to Acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 Billion

Marvel Entertainment was so successful as an independent studio that it’s a surprise to see it gobbled up by the Mouse House. Disney announced early Monday that it plans to acquire the comics company that spawned Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men and The Hulk, among some 5,000 Marvel characters. “We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” said Disney chairman Robert Iger.

Why would Marvel (which started producing its own movies in 2005) sell with profits rolling in? The economy, stupid. Marvel has financing and investors like everyone else; their main backing came from Merrill Lynch. If it was hard for Steven Spielberg to line up financing for DreamWorks, Marvel also faced tough going. In another environment, it would have made sense to remain in charge of their own destiny.

“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”

The question going forward: will Disney have the sense to grant Marvel the autonomy that it gives to Pixar? Marvel has operated with a fierce mission: to protect their characters over time. They have not played by short-term Hollywood rules. They haven’t paid out major Hollywood salaries to top stars. They made Robert Downey Jr. into a star with Iron Man, and demanded a level of quality that paid off at the box office. Reaction to the sequel was strong at Comic-Con in July.

For the Disney/Marvel match to work, the studio will want to hang on to current Marvel management and grant them a long creative leash. One can imagine that Pixar and Disney producer Jerry Bruckheimer would be eager to get their hands on some of this material. (UPDATE: In fact, Pixar and Marvel have already met and Pixar can’t wait to get their hands on some of these properties.) “I can’t imagine that Marvel will defer creatively to another corporate entity,” says producer Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures (Marvel’s The Punisher). “It’s too important to protect a successful brand. Fans will have the same concerns. It’s important for Disney to say, ‘We’re not going to interfere.’”

Here’s the official press release.

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by Anne Thompson, posted to Franchises, Hulk, Iron Man, Genres, Action, Comics, Studios, Disney/Miramax on August 31, 2009 at 9:34am PDT | Permalink | Comments (3)