Originally Posted By leemac <<This is the last movie Paramount will make money off of, after this it's purely Disney, and from what I read, the amount they get is minimal...>> 7% of total gross isn't minimal. That effectively cuts Disney's take by 15%.
Originally Posted By leemac Also worth noting that Disney limited their risk by bringing in a co-production parter in DMG - so by doing that they also limited their upside.
Originally Posted By leemac <<But They will make a ton in merchandising and future Marvel movies.>> I think people don't always grasp exactly how much money TWDC makes from merchandise - profitability-wise it is a distant fourth to Media Networks, Parks & Resorts and Studio Entertainment. Revenue-wise it makes just 7% of the total group and profit-wise just a nudge under 10% (margins are usually much better in DCP). TWDC makes less than $1bn in profit annually worldwide from DCP - a nice earner for sure but a couple of smash movies can clear that hurdle much easier. Again my concern continues to be what happens when they bleed Marvel dry and movie-goers aren't interested any more (and it will happen). The Studios arm of the company has been notoriously bad at spotting the writing on the wall when it comes to trends. It looks like 2 Marvel movies and 1 Star Wars movie will be released each year - that is probably close to $1bn in development, production and marketing costs - a massive gamble.
Originally Posted By dagobert Eventually Disney is overseturating the market with Marvel. And with a Star Wars movies coming each year in 2015 the chances are high that there will be too many movies and people lose interest.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Eventually Disney is overseturating the market with Marvel.>> I'm not sure 2 per year is necessarily oversaturation but the real issue isn't what Marvel release - it is what happens if Man of Steel does well - that brings WB back to the game with their DC stable and I'm sure we will see other studios looking for comic book product. I'm not sure movie-goers will stomach 5-6 big budget comic book movies annually.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ Allegedly the budget has ballooned to the wrong side of $250m so a tracking number as soft as that doesn't bode well. I've still not seen Singer's attempt at Superman and I'm not sure I'll bother with this one either. He isn't a super hero that particularly excites me.
Originally Posted By dagobert I was never a Superman fan, except for the cheesy Lois&Clark tv series that ran on ABC. So I will not watch the new one. And Nolan disappointed me with the last Batman, I'm not sure if it is good that he is the producer of Man of Steel.
Originally Posted By utahjosh If Man of Steel does well, it's not going to hurt Marvel. Good competition is a good thing.
Originally Posted By leemac <<If Man of Steel does well, it's not going to hurt Marvel. Good competition is a good thing.>> Not in the movie business - if WB opt to ramp up their DC slate driven by a new franchise around Superman then it can only hurt Marvel. Somewhere around 800 movies are released annually and therefore screen count is paramount. Studios don't schedule big movies against one another and they avoid similar genre movies by as many weeks as possible. You can see the effect of this on the CGI business - Disney can't release more than 2 a year due to the competition from Blue Sky, DWA, Illumination etc. The marketplace is very crowded and similar genre movies released in numbers isn't good for business.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 The marketplace is very crowded and similar genre movies released in numbers isn't good for business.<< Dark Knight Rises, Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man all came out within 3 months of each other, and didn't hurt business last year and all 3 were considered blockbusters... The market can handle 3 to 5 big budget super hero flicks a year based on what we have seen the past few years.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Dark Knight Rises, Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man all came out within 3 months of each other, and didn't hurt business last year and all 3 were considered blockbusters...>> I still think those are anomalies - the conclusion of a trilogy, the conclusion of Phase I and a reboot of a popular character. The latter definitely wasn't as clear cut of a blockbuster - $275m production plus $130m marketing and it grossed $750m. That is barely break even. It just amazes me that these movies need to do $1bn globally now to be considered a success. They have let production costs balloon and ticket prices just can't keep up - Hollywood is reaching an ever-diminishing pool of movie-goers - it has been pretty static for years - only ticket inflation and premium offerings are pushing up box office takes.
Originally Posted By leemac I'm happy to admit that I got it wrong over Marvel - I thought they overpaid massively but Kevin Feige has done an exceptional job at keeping the studio on track with his plans. I'm just worried that the sole focus is on $200m+ movies (and the one TV series) - I'd like to see Marvel Studios make smaller movies to keep a good balance.
Originally Posted By leemac It would be nice if TWDC actually admitted that Marvel was a business unit and thereby reported revenue and profits attributable to that unit publicly. If it continues to grow I'd wager PwC will force them to add a new business unit to their segments.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA leemac, I have the same concerns you have. <Hollywood is reaching an ever-diminishing pool of movie-goers - it has been pretty static for years - only ticket inflation and premium offerings are pushing up box office takes> ^^^this
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>It would be nice if TWDC actually admitted that Marvel was a business unit and thereby reported revenue and profits attributable to that unit publicly. If it continues to grow I'd wager PwC will force them to add a new business unit to their segments.<<< According to TWDC's corporate website, Marvel Studios are part of the Walt Disney Studios, like Pixar and soon Lucasfilm. However I have always wondered to which division the Comic Books Publisher belongs. Is Disney at all interested in the comic book segment? Is there a possibility that Disney might sell that part? The same might happen to Lucasfilm.There Disney is only interested in Star Wars and I wouldn't be surprised to see Disney selling ILM, LucasBooks or Skywalker Sound.
Originally Posted By leemac <<No way Disney sells ILM, they can charge more to rival studios.>> I wouldn't bet on that - SFX houses have been failing left, right and center - you have a high cost base and ever-decreasing revenue. It is a bad business to be. I'd wager the only reason it is still at the Studio is that no-one wants to buy it for value.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Is Disney at all interested in the comic book segment?>> The unit officially reports through Marvel Studios but DPW has licensed the product for books etc. DPW was close to be entirely shuttered a few years back - it has survived but DCP would rather not be in the publishing world.
