3 Reasons Why Fox Should Hand Back Daredevil Film Rights To Marvel

[TMC]

http://whatculture.com/film/3-reasons-why-fox-should-hand-back-daredev%20%20il-film-rights-to-marvel.php

1. Time Is Growing Short
There’s only about enough time to make a movie as cool as this ugly
cheap clock.

The biggest and most unavoidable factor here is that Fox only has a
few short months to get a new version of Daredevil into production.
That’s less time than Sony had when word went around back in early
2010 (like Feb/March early) that they had to get another Ghost Rider
movie rolling by November of that same year to keep hold of the
rights. They still spent a few months (until July of that year)
humming and harring over whether it was worth actually making another
movie before they officially announced that duo Mark Neveldine and
Brian Taylor (of Crank fame) were going to direct it.

Barring a major miracle coup of getting a bad ass director to fill in
for Slade and who is ready to pick up the camera and go, Fox won’t be
able to get someone capable of handling the difficult task of bringing
the Man Without Fear back to the silver screen and doing better than
the previous version. Yes, we know that the 2003, Ben Affleck starring
version sucked and it shouldn’t be too hard to make a better film, but
when you only have a few months to get someone to helm and the film
off the ground, it just ain’t gonna happen.

The one objection to cutting their losses that would make a lot of
sense (not to fans, but to the people who pay the people that try to
please us) is that Fox would stand to lose a ton of money. However,
it’s not necessarily as true as it might sound because Fox could still
make a lot of dough-re-mi on this flick even if they don’t make it…

2. Profit Can Still Be Made, Even If The Movie Isn’t Done by Fox

There’s a lesson here, learn it well.

After 2003's “Hulk” was less than smashing at the box office (if that
pun pissed you off, it’s your problem and not mine) Universal dragged
their feet long enough on getting a sequel off the ground that Eric
Bana dropped out of the project and Marvel eventually got the rights
back to the franchise (which is why Hulk was in Avengers at all). This
wasn’t a total loss for Universal though. They were able to work out
an agreement with Marvel Studios to distribute the movie, 2008's “The
Incredible Hulk”. So not only did they make a good deal of money off
of it, but they were also able to save themselves a lot of money by
not having to film the movie themselves.

If you don’t think it’d be in Fox’s financial interests to work on
getting Daredevil sent back to Marvel Studios, re-read the above
paragraph. To sum up, Universal got a cut of a movie that made a good
bit of money in theaters and on DVD that they didn’t actually make. In
a normal situation where a movie that’s in development gets scrapped,
the studio has to eat the loss of a *beep* load of cash for all the
pre-production that went into the project. Instead of having to mark
that money in red on a balance sheet, Universal was able to weigh it
against numbers in black for a movie that Marvel made.

When faced with the terrifying notion of pouring millions more into a
quickly and shoddily made Daredevil sequel that could end up flopping,
Fox would likely be much better served by working out a lucrative deal
to get distribution rights and a sweet cut of front end moolah while
Marvel does all the leg work. Of crucial not worthiness is that Marvel
is now owned by Disney, who have waaaaaaay deeper pockets to dole out
some dosh. Even more importantly, money might not be the only thing to
be gained from such a move…

http://whatculture.com/film/3-reasons-why-fox-should-hand-back-daredev%20%20il-film-rights-to-marvel.php/3

3. Marvel Might Be Willing To Make It Worth Their While In Other Ways

As I mentioned in another article about Fox’s recent marvelous
maneuvering, the studio has a unique position compared to any non-
Marvel movie studio with rights to Marvel properties. With Fantastic
Four and X-Men safely under their wing for, Fox has a vast set of
characters that could be crossed over into multiple types of plots.
Sure, Sony has Spidey and Ghost Rider, but let’s not kid ourselves,
there isn’t all that much potential for cool crossovers with those two
guys. Reed Richards and Professor X taking on Dr. Doom and Magneto on
the other hand? Nerd, gold. Ya know what would turn that gold into
some platinum? Add in Tony Stark and Loki or Captain America and The
Abomination?

Sadly this kind of multi-studio crossover stuff hasn’t happened yet
(at least in superhero flicks) because wading through the legalese is
a rather huge pain in the ass among other things. That’s not to say
it’s an insurmountable hurdle though. Disney and Warners were able to
meet on common ground to make “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” so there’s
always hope. One things that could kindle that spark of hope into a
lighters flame igniting the bowl of a peace pipe is a gesture of
goodwill on Fox’s part by offering to give back Daredevil in exchange
for the use of other characters between studios. Yes we know it’s a
nerd fantasy, but as little as 7 or 8 years ago so was the idea of
Marvel slowly bringing characters together into a larger movie
universe. Now that we’re here, and Fox can see how fertile (and
lucrative) the ground of movie crossover events can be, the sky itself
is no longer a limit.

When weighed against the idea of sweet talking Marvel and Disney into
mixing things up with Fox to make a mega movie that could be even
bigger than “The Avengers” the notion of doing another Daredevil movie
seems pretty weak.

http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/is-fox-in-danger-of-losing-daredevil-back-to-marvel

20th Century Fox has taken plenty of heat over the years for their
handling of comic book properties, some of which I've applied
personally, but any fan of the modern age of superhero movies has to
acknowledge that if they hadn't taken a chance on "X-Men" when they
did, things might look very different right now.

They're still very much in the Marvel business, and it looks like
they've made it official now that they'll be rebooting "Fantastic
Four" with Josh Trank directing. I really liked his work on
"Chronicle," and I think it'll be interesting to see what sort of
aesthetic he brings to the property. They never really found a tone
that worked in the first two films, but I believe that "Fantastic
Four" could be one of the biggest franchises in all of superhero
cinema if they get it right.

What's more interesting is that David Slade has left "Daredevil,"
which means Fox has to scramble now to get someone onboard to start
production on the film this fall, or they risk having the rights
revert to Marvel.

That would be a pretty significant business blow for Fox, but we're at
that point now where some big choices are going to have to be made by
the studios that have the various Marvel properties under option.
They have to keep making these films on a regular schedule or give the
properties back, and in some cases, there's no good choice there. Fox
evidently has a "Daredevil" script that they like a lot, so they seem
like they're in good shape. It's just a matter of finding the right
person to step in and really find the right way to bring the project
to life.

I'm curious to see which studio is first to break down and beg Marvel
to strike a cross-over deal that allows them to put their version of
the Marvel characters into the carefully constructed world that Marvel
has been putting together in their own films. Will it be 20th Century
Fox with either "Daredevil," "Fantastic Four," or any of the various
"X-Men" related characters they own?

Or will it be Sony, eager to capitalize on just how much people seem
to love Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man? If they announced that he was
going to pop up in "The Avengers 2," I think things would get crazy
for both companies, and there's no limit to the money they could make.

Whatever the case, we'll see what decisions Fox makes in the coming
months, and we'll be paying close attention to see who owns Daredevil
when all is said and done.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-20th-Century-Fox-Marvel-Cinematic-Universe/123346964458041?ref=ts

[Kenneth M. Lin]

If they give the right back to Marvel, Joe Q. will insist on doing the
adaptation of his "Father" mini-series where DD looked like a sumo wrestler.

"TMC" wrote in message
news:0d49d272-64f4-44ff...@tz10g2000pbc.googlegroups.com...

http://whatculture.com/film/3-reasons-why-fox-should-hand-back-daredev%20%20il-film-rights-to-marvel.php

1. Time Is Growing Short

There�s only about enough time to make a movie as cool as this ugly

cheap clock.

The biggest and most unavoidable factor here is that Fox only has a
few short months to get a new version of Daredevil into production.

That�s less time than Sony had when word went around back in early

2010 (like Feb/March early) that they had to get another Ghost Rider
movie rolling by November of that same year to keep hold of the
rights. They still spent a few months (until July of that year)
humming and harring over whether it was worth actually making another
movie before they officially announced that duo Mark Neveldine and
Brian Taylor (of Crank fame) were going to direct it.

Barring a major miracle coup of getting a bad ass director to fill in

for Slade and who is ready to pick up the camera and go, Fox won�t be

able to get someone capable of handling the difficult task of bringing
the Man Without Fear back to the silver screen and doing better than
the previous version. Yes, we know that the 2003, Ben Affleck starring

version sucked and it shouldn�t be too hard to make a better film, but

when you only have a few months to get someone to helm and the film

off the ground, it just ain�t gonna happen.

The one objection to cutting their losses that would make a lot of
sense (not to fans, but to the people who pay the people that try to
please us) is that Fox would stand to lose a ton of money. However,

it�s not necessarily as true as it might sound because Fox could still
make a lot of dough-re-mi on this flick even if they don�t make it�

2. Profit Can Still Be Made, Even If The Movie Isn�t Done by Fox

There�s a lesson here, learn it well.

After 2003's �Hulk� was less than smashing at the box office (if that
pun pissed you off, it�s your problem and not mine) Universal dragged

their feet long enough on getting a sequel off the ground that Eric
Bana dropped out of the project and Marvel eventually got the rights
back to the franchise (which is why Hulk was in Avengers at all). This

wasn�t a total loss for Universal though. They were able to work out
an agreement with Marvel Studios to distribute the movie, 2008's �The
Incredible Hulk�. So not only did they make a good deal of money off

of it, but they were also able to save themselves a lot of money by
not having to film the movie themselves.

If you don�t think it�d be in Fox�s financial interests to work on

getting Daredevil sent back to Marvel Studios, re-read the above
paragraph. To sum up, Universal got a cut of a movie that made a good

bit of money in theaters and on DVD that they didn�t actually make. In
a normal situation where a movie that�s in development gets scrapped,

the studio has to eat the loss of a *beep* load of cash for all the
pre-production that went into the project. Instead of having to mark
that money in red on a balance sheet, Universal was able to weigh it
against numbers in black for a movie that Marvel made.

When faced with the terrifying notion of pouring millions more into a
quickly and shoddily made Daredevil sequel that could end up flopping,
Fox would likely be much better served by working out a lucrative deal
to get distribution rights and a sweet cut of front end moolah while
Marvel does all the leg work. Of crucial not worthiness is that Marvel
is now owned by Disney, who have waaaaaaay deeper pockets to dole out
some dosh. Even more importantly, money might not be the only thing to

be gained from such a move�

http://whatculture.com/film/3-reasons-why-fox-should-hand-back-daredev%20%20il-film-rights-to-marvel.php/3

3. Marvel Might Be Willing To Make It Worth Their While In Other Ways

As I mentioned in another article about Fox�s recent marvelous

maneuvering, the studio has a unique position compared to any non-
Marvel movie studio with rights to Marvel properties. With Fantastic
Four and X-Men safely under their wing for, Fox has a vast set of
characters that could be crossed over into multiple types of plots.

Sure, Sony has Spidey and Ghost Rider, but let�s not kid ourselves,
there isn�t all that much potential for cool crossovers with those two

guys. Reed Richards and Professor X taking on Dr. Doom and Magneto on
the other hand? Nerd, gold. Ya know what would turn that gold into
some platinum? Add in Tony Stark and Loki or Captain America and The
Abomination?

Sadly this kind of multi-studio crossover stuff hasn�t happened yet

(at least in superhero flicks) because wading through the legalese is

a rather huge pain in the ass among other things. That�s not to say
it�s an insurmountable hurdle though. Disney and Warners were able to
meet on common ground to make �Who Framed Roger Rabbit� so there�s

always hope. One things that could kindle that spark of hope into a
lighters flame igniting the bowl of a peace pipe is a gesture of

goodwill on Fox�s part by offering to give back Daredevil in exchange
for the use of other characters between studios. Yes we know it�s a

nerd fantasy, but as little as 7 or 8 years ago so was the idea of
Marvel slowly bringing characters together into a larger movie

universe. Now that we�re here, and Fox can see how fertile (and

lucrative) the ground of movie crossover events can be, the sky itself
is no longer a limit.

When weighed against the idea of sweet talking Marvel and Disney into
mixing things up with Fox to make a mega movie that could be even

bigger than �The Avengers� the notion of doing another Daredevil movie