Deadline is reporting the following (this long quote is necessary to provide full information; I've included clarifications and corrections in square brackets):
A dispute that has taken place over the past few months at the top of Disney and Sony has essentially nixed [Kevin] Feige, and the future involvement of Marvel from the Spider-Man universe, sources said. … Disney asked that future Spider-Man films be a 50/50 co-financing arrangement between the studios [actually 30/70 via THR], and there were discussions that this might extend to other films in the Spider-Man universe. Sony turned that offer down flat.... Led by Tom Rothman and Tony Vinciquerra, Sony just simply didn’t want to share its biggest franchise. Sony proposed keeping the arrangement going under the current terms where Marvel receives in the range of 5% of first dollar gross [ie opening weekend], sources said. Disney refused. {UPDATE: Sony insiders counter that Rothman did offer compromises but Disney declined [no one has clarified what these compromises were, making me doubt this comment from Sony].} … Sources said Disney’s top brass for the past several months has sought new terms for Feige and the Marvel cross-pollination to continue. As the Spider-Man relationship grew, Feige and Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman spoke about the possibility of a wider involvement in the Sony-controlled Spider-man universe, which contains 900 characters. … Sources said that Sony reasoned that they will be fine, without Feige. The creative template has been set on the Spider-Man films, and Watt and Holland are in place along with Amy Pascal, who became producer with Feige after she exited [was fired from the position due to the Sony hacks and forced to apologize for racist comments made therein] the executive suite after presiding over the previous Spider-Man iterations directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb as Sony Pictures chief. ... [S]ources note that Venom was a problem picture and far from the polished product that grossed $856 million worldwide, until Rothman himself spent a good long time in the editing room helping to get it there.There are a couple of things to be aware of before we delve into the specifics. First, the author of the piece (Mike Fleming) is known to be Sony's chosen way of leaking information (something learned via the Sony hacks), which is why Fleming spends so much time praising the garrulous Rothman. Secondly, Tom Rothman, among his other foibles, was the man at Fox who prevented Ryan Reynolds from making Deadpool for years (the film only happened after he was pushed out of Fox in 2012, having kept the film down since 2004). Rothman has an enormous ego and it's clear that he leaked this information (LotLB and Andre agree with this), presumably with the intent to create backlash against Marvel and force them to come closer to Sony's terms. Rothman's decision blew-up in his face and Marvel holds all the cards--with the acquisition of Fox they have more than enough IP to live without Spider-Man (if a controversial Captain Marvel made more at the box office than Far From Home, what is Marvel giving up?).
After the immediate and overwhelming blowback (including Sony's stock taking a dive), stories started to filter out (eg) that negotiations weren't done and that the two sides were quite close to a deal (Andre claims 30/70 is on the table from Sony, but this is in error as that's what Disney has asked for and Sony is rejecting). Sony falsely put out a story that Disney was demanding a 50/50 profit share and that has, to a small degree, garnered them sympathy. One of the versions of events claims the only impasse was over a producer credit, but this is preposterous (LotLB claims the negotiations recommenced after the initial news dropped and are going well, for whatever that's worth). Matt Donnelly from Variety attempts to sum up the situation, but his article is confused and filled with self-contradictions related to the contradictory reports.
What do I think will happen? Rothman is stubborn (eg his approach to Deadpool or passing on things like Ted), so the possibility remains Sony will walk away and hope that inserting Tom Holland into the Sonyverse will work. Certainly in terms of retaining the rights to the IP, assuming Midnight's Edge story in July is correct, allowing the MCU a stronger hand in what happens going forward would put Sony in desperate straights if (later) they want to break the arrangement. The time to move away from Marvel would be now, but publicly and likely financially such a move would be a disaster. In the end, I think, Disney will get most of what it wants from Sony and Spider-Man will remain in the MCU (echoed here). Personally, I have no real attachment to the character (I was an X-Men fan primarily), so I'm indifferent to the result, but I do like many of the characters associated with the IP, so would love the MCU to have influence (if not outright control) over them.
There is a ticking clock for Sony as they are releasing a director's cut of Far From Home into theaters for Labour Day weekend. This will underperform if the public believes there is no deal. It may also be one of the reasons Disney is confident playing hardball, since there's nothing Spider-Man-relevant that's pressing on their end.
One related thing that's been debated in regards to this is Tom Holland and Tom Watt's contract situation. I've heard it said that the former has two films left on his deal and the latter one, while I've also heard that each has a one film option, which if correct means neither are signed. Holland (and his girlfriend Zendaya) both unfollowed Sony on Instagram when this broke which, if it means anything, is probably the most they can do to publicly protest a change. [According to this Watt's doesn't even have an option remaining and Holland simply has the option for a third Spidey-film.]
One thing this story means, regardless of whether the break occurs or not, is that Richard Rushfield's scoop in The Ankler was completely false--making a billion dollars did not automatically lock in Marvel to a third Spider-Man film (something LotLB claimed was false at the time).
This situation also seemingly debunks the multitude of Norman Osborn rumours: GWW's speculation that the character was being cast (June and August, speculation Jeremy Conrad echoed); 4chan posts from January and May that claimed he'd be a major antagonist in the MCU going forward (apparently Grace Randolph also said this, but as I don't follow her I'm getting that second hand); and TMSM's claim that there were shots of Osborn actually filmed for Far From Home (July), and even Murphy claims he'd heard things. LotLB (among others including myself) found all these ideas extremely unlikely given the rights situation.
An incidental note: I didn't realize until this story broke that Adam Barnhardt (at Comicbook.com) is a Sony shill--something to keep in mind going forward.
Charles Murphy says that Black Panther 2 will begin filming in January, 2021, and Doctor Strange 2 in late April, 2020. I don't recall hearing dates for these films previously, but Charles doesn't present them as a scoop so I assume that's been discussed elsewhere. He also says that Shang-Chi's filming has been pushed to January (originally he said it would be filming in the fall).
Martin Freeman thinks he'll be in the next Black Panther (for whatever that's worth) and that it will be filming in 2021.
Last time I went over the Fandomwire scoop about how the Loki series would tie-in with the rest of the MCU (which was echoed by Charlie Schneider); the normally garrulous Murphy believes the speculation makes sense. He also believes the transgender casting call (from GWW) is for Sera, but that she'll be in the Loki show rather than a film (still within the Thor-franchise, as the character is).
Discussing Film says Matt Shakman is in talks to direct one of the Disney+ shows--given the timeline it's either WandaVision or Loki.
Murphy thinks GWW's "Asian" casting call is for Shang-Chi. He speculates it could even be related to K'un Lun, which is a great example of why his speculation is so unreliable, as the MCU won't get the rights back to Iron Fist until the fall, 2020. As an aside, some of his opinions are headscratchers as well--he's one of the only people I've heard that prefer Deadpool 2 over Deadpool.
A brief thought: I wonder if Sony's Morbius film played a part in the MCU's interest in making Blade?
Kinda Culty's latest video suggests a Wolverine movie (by the Russo's) will be our introductory mutant film. I think that's plausible and certainly the Russo's can write their own ticket given their track record. With that said, I'm not sure what film will come first--it could simply be an X-Men movie.
He also argues that The Eternals will set-up the idea of mutants, but that its premise makes it unlikely the MCU would use the same idea for mutants (hidden but always around, particularly as that's likely the story of Namor and Atlantis). I'm less convinced by his belief that a small number of mutants have existed for awhile to make room for characters like Professor X and Apocalypse. My problem with this idea is it's hard to fathom some of the core mutants not taking part in Endgame if they were around. He echoes my theory that the Snaps are the primary trigger for activating mutants around the world. I also agree that it's easy to retroactively make Wanda and Quicksilver mutants by saying the Mind Stone triggered their X-gene.
Just a related note: a revised version of my MCU X-Men article is in process and should be out soon.
Conrad says a 'big' series is coming to Disney+, but has no idea what it is (he includes a lot of speculation, including one that's similar to LotLB's: X-Factor Investigations), or when it will be announced.
Here are the latest batches (one, two, three, and four) of LotLB news (taken with a grain of salt):
- His source "The Black Knight" is someone who contacted him on Instagram four or five months ago (March-April), liked his content, and hates Grace Randolph (which they bonded over); TBK convinced him that his inside information was real (specifically mentioning info he had on Captain Marvel and Shang-Chi through spec purchases); he since said TBK has been an industry insider for about thirty years (so the 90s), writing for comicbooks along with editorials about them
LotLB is a comic shop owner, so he benefit's from the speculation he discusses on his channel (to some extent at least)--I don't recall him naming his shop on the channel, so if that's his angle he's not pushing it much[Correction: I misunderstood what was said here as Tim does not own a shop]- He repeated his belief that Marvel Entertainment and the MCU will be connected--a lovely idea, but he's still the only one saying it (it's either a tremendous scope or tremendously embarrassing)--his explanation (the fourth video) is that Bob Iger has forced this arrangement because it will help them take on Netflix (I don't really follow his logic)
- Claims Marvel has a Plan A and Plan B for D23: believes (like Andre below) that the former is to talk about The Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and their plans for Spider-Man (see below), but never went into their Plan B
- Said that there are plans for a new Spider-Man six-picture deal which would follow the final film of his high school trilogy if a deal with the MCU is reached--a Sony trilogy would follow him in his college years and feature the characters from Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (see below), with three MCU appearances including two Avengers films and The Fantastic Four; apparently Marvel's new offer is to give Sony the rights to make TV shows based on the IP (along with the 30/70 split and the MCU gaining creative control over the IP on film)
- Says Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) will return to the MCU from another multiverse, later clarifying that's if the actor is willing to return, otherwise the role will be re-cast
- Claims an actor is auditioning for Nova (I looked for anyone else reporting this and found nothing), saying they were in their 20s and had been in a Christopher Nolan film
- Changed his New Mutants show rumour to Disney+ from Hulu, which makes a lot more sense
- Reiterated his rumour from a couple of months ago (which I ignored at the time) that the tie-in event on Hulu will be Marvel Zombies
- Unrelated to the MCU, he claims Sony is working on Scarlet Spider, Spider-Man 2099, and a reboot of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends TV shows (the latter seemingly would not occur if they were to appear on film), all of which will be impossible if the Marvel deal isn't renewed
Andre suggests we'll get Phase Five hints at D23; he speculates this will be the case because the properties announced for Phase Four don't have enough cache (take that with a grain of salt). [Amusingly the Charles' agree with the result of this idea--a big announcement--although they say if it happens it would be to draw attention away from the Sony-Disney split--this kind of thing would also, for different reasons, match LotLB's theory above.]
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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