Marvel’s ‘historic’ summer

You could say David Maisel is bullish on Marvel Studios, of which he is chairman, but you’d be understating his enthusiasm.

Maisel not only called the studio’s summer performance “historic” on Wednesday, but he also called the new studio’s launch “arguably the most successful” in modern history, and he backed up his assertion with numbers.

“Iron Man,” he said, has earned $575 million at the worldwide boxoffice, with Japan still to come, and it is the 21st-biggest film domestically of all time. Plus, the first two films financed and produced by Marvel, “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk,” have earned $835 million, and counting, worldwide.

Maisel, speaking at a Merrill Lynch investors conference, then compared Marvel’s “Thor” story to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. “Thor” is set for release June 4, 2010.

Then Maisel upped the ante further, suggesting that Marvel’s intention to tie several of its movies together with common characters will make them feel like different episodes of the same story, just like “Star Wars.”

He used the appearance of Robert Downey Jr., the star of “Iron Man,” in a cameo at the end of “Hulk” as an example, calling the device “a taste of what’s to follow.”

Maisel said that one advantage of Marvel being its own studio is that it no longer has to go through an uncertain greenlight process, therefore it can grab release dates early. To wit, the studio set “Iron Man 2″ for April 30, 2010, and insiders said Wednesday that “The First Avenger: Captain America” will bow May 6, 2011, a Friday, and “The Avengers” is set for July that year.

- from THR

More Marvel Films From Fox Studios?

First is a Young X-Men project of a type that will be familiar to fans of the 2000-2003 animated series X-Men: Evolution, wherein all the main characters were teenagers. Is this a good idea? Well, possibly not: either they stick with the continuity of the other films and don’t include the likes of Wolverine (in which case what’s the point?) or they confuse everyone and have younger versions of all the same characters, or they go with a spin-off team like the New Mutants, who never really fired the public’s imagination. Unless it’s like an X-Men Muppet Babies, in which case bring it on!

Secondly there’s the possibility of a spin-off of a spin-off, with Deadpool being mooted. For those of you not au fait with your Marvel masked assassins, Deadpool’s a wise-cracking mercenary with similar powers to Wolverine but better one-liners. Ryan Reynolds (a good fit for the role) is set to play him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so would hopefully take the role again in any spin-off. From the spin-off. They could call it X-Men Origins: X-Men Mates: Deadpool.

And third and most radically, there’s the possibility of a Daredevil reboot. As one of the few publications that didn’t hate the first one, that doesn’t seem immediately necessary (and a reboot didn’t work for The Incredible Hulk).

- from Empire

Is There a D.J. in Thor’s Future?

Eagle Eye director DJ Caruso eyes Marvel’s big screen adaptation of Thor.

Matthew Vaughn was first attached to direct Thor for Marvel Studios but just as was the case with X-Men 3, Vaughn has left the building. Which, in my humble opinion and considering the lack of money that both of his previous films - Layer Cake and Stardust - have been able to bring to Hollywood, it’s a good thing.

So who might be able to take the mighty Mjolnir and bring Thor from the comic book page to the big screen?

Today the IESB chatted with director D.J. Caruso in an exclusive interview and talked about his upcoming thriller EAGLE EYE starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan.

While wrapping up, D.J. revealed a few tidbits to the IESB about the Marvel’s favorite Norse God, Thor.

IESB: Would you tackle a D.C. or Marvel property and if you would, and I mean traditional man-in-tights superhero movie and if you did which movie would you like to do?

DJ Caruso: You know…I would definitely tackle it and I sort of wrestled with it before and I was always a fan of Thor growing up as a kid. I know that they [Marvel] have a script, but there’s something, there’s a fear I have about Thor and depending on what Thor story you want to tell, whether you want to bring Thor into the modern world or if you want to go back to Asgard and get the history of what’s happening between him and his brother and dad. That’s one I’ve always been interested in and it also would be, it would be a monumental task so, I could definitely see myself getting myself into that.

- from IESB

Awww Hell Yeah! Will Smith Is Not Captain America!

Hey folks, Harry here to restore your faith in the world - Multiple sources from MARVEL have confirmed that Derek Luke, of Spike Lee’s MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA, doesn’t know what he’s talking about when it comes to Will Smith and CAPTAIN AMERICA. Marvel never offered the part, nor did they approach or entertain a conversation about Will Smith for CAPTAIN AMERICA. That said - I’m sure they have a few parts that they’d like him for, just not Captain America.
So there ya go. They haven’t gone insane and we don’t need to be confused, angry and scared about it anymore. — harry from AICN

Is Will Smith The New Captain America?

When Marvel announced that “Captain America” was making its way to the big-screen, fans everywhere began speculating who would be donning the famous red-white-and-blue tights. Nothing has been heard since, but during an MTV News interview regarding his role in “Miracle at St. Anna,” actor Derek Luke let slip that a very prominent - and surprising - face could be the star of Marvel Studios’ next blockbuster film.

“I heard they offered Will Smith ‘Captain America,’” said Luke, adding that the intriguing casting rumor “just shows you how times have changed.”

While this word through the Hollywood grapevine is nothing more than a rumor at this point, it should be noted that Marvel hasn’t shied away from changing up the race - and gender - of established characters in recent years. Upon kicking off his celebrated take on “The Ultimates” (Marvel’s re-imagining of their classic superteam The Avengers), Mark Millar changed S.H.I.E.L.D. head honcho Nick Fury from a crew-cut, cigar-chomping, middle-aged white man to, well… Sam Jackson.

- from MTV

Two more ‘Spider-Man’ films on the way

Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi are looking to spin more webs for Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

The actor and helmer are said to be close to locking in a deal to return for the fourth and fifth installments of the studio’s top-grossing “Spider-Man” franchise, with Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad producing.

In hopes of containing costs, Columbia is considering shooting the films back-to-back starting in fall 2009, much like New Line did with “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which filmed simultaneously for 274 days. Ziskin had said she would like to aim for a May 2011 release for “Spider-Man 4,” nine years after the original movie’s debut.

Jamie Vanderbilt (”Zodiac”) is writing the screenplay.

“Spider-Man” is Sony’s most successful movie franchise; the first three films have grossed $2.5 billion worldwide.

Although there has been speculation whether Maguire would return to play Peter Parker, the studio said there was no question he would be back.

“The studio never considered any other actor. Tobey was our only choice and the only person we’ve discussed the role with,” Sony spokesman Steve Elzer said.

Both Maguire and Raimi are repped by CAA.

The studio declined comment on what villains might appear in the next two films or whether Kirsten Dunst would reprise her role as Mary Jane Watson, though it is hoped she will follow Maguire’s lead and return.

Sony also has stepped up developing the “Spider-Man” spinoff “Venom,” first recruiting writer Jacob Estes to draft a script and most recently bringing in scribes Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, who penned “Zombieland” for the studio.

- from THR

Marvel Superheroes to Be Recast for Japan

The superheroes of Marvel Entertainment have been turned into toys, cartoons and, perhaps most profitably, live action films like “Iron Man” and the Spider-Man series. Now they are being adapted again — this time specifically for the Japanese market.

Marvel is teaming up with Madhouse, a renowned Japanese animation studio, to develop new versions of its characters for four anime series that will premiere in spring 2010 in Japan.

Rather than simply importing American characters and concepts, said Simon Philips, president of Marvel International, the goal is to create “something that is part of the fabric of society.” This means reimagining the back stories and redesigning the look of Marvel’s stable of characters to reflect Japanese culture. “It will create an entire parallel universe for Marvel,” he said.

“Marvel today is so open-minded,” said Jungo Maruta, the president and chief executive of Madhouse, through his interpreter, Alex Yeh, the chief operating officer of the studio, during a recent meeting in New York. “Marvel gives creators freedom to fly.”

- from NYTimes

Not so iron, man: Marvel’s shares tumble on 2008 outlook

Marvel Entertainment Inc. may have to send Tony Stark back to the lab: The company’s latest financial outlook didn’t cut it with investors.

New York-based Marvel, whose spring movie hit “Iron Man” featured Robert Downey Jr. as the scientist-genius-egomaniac Stark, today reported a 60% jump in second-quarter profit, thanks mainly to a surge in revenue from licensing of merchandise tied to “Iron Man” and others in Marvel’s large cast of characters.

But Wall Street focused on the company’s revised revenue and profit forecasts for 2008. Although Marvel boosted its revenue estimate for this year to a range of $450 million to $480 million, an increase of 20% from its May forecast, analysts’ consensus was for $516 million, according to Bloomberg data.

- from LAtimes

Latest on Edgar Wright’s Ant Man for Marvel

From THR:

Edgar Wright, currently penning the potential (ant) man out, offered a little hint of how it might work this past weekend at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy fest: as a holiday release. Marvel execs are on the record as saying they tend to prefer the warm months for their releases. But “Ant Man” is a bit of a different breed — the lesser-know character who can turn into an ant and also control insects with his mind plays more tongue-in-cheek than some of the company’s other properties.

Wright said he’s in the middle of a second draft on the script, and of course is set for another graphic novel adaptation, “Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World,” for Marc Platt and Universal ahead of “Ant Man” But don’t be surprised to turn on the light during Christmas of 2010 and find a head peeking back from behind a few antennae.

Edgar Wright Talks ‘Ant-Man’

From Cinematical:

Everyone seems to have superheroes on the brain this summer, so it’s the perfect time for Edgar Wright to pop out of the woodwork to remind us about Ant-Man. In an interview with PiQ magazine about the DVD release of Spaced, the topic drifted to Ant-Man on the big screen.

Wright confirmed that the second draft of the script is still underway, and that the film will be a, “different way of seeing a superhero origin, because you’ve seen so many of them and we really tried to figure out a fresh take on that story. So it’s definitely a Marvel film but it’s got a little twist on it in terms of the way that it plays out.”

Back in March, Elisabeth had brought us the update that the film was going to be a little light on the comedy, and it seems like Wright is sticking to that philosophy. Wright took the opportunity to remind us once again that he will be playing it straight for Ant-Man — or at least as ’straight’ as one of the people responsible for the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy can be.