Superhero film marks Hollywood marvel tale
Print Edition
“SPIDER-MAN: Homecoming” sees one of the most successful superheroes in movie history return to his comic book roots — but the film’s release is a landmark Hollywood event for a different reason.
The US$175 million blockbuster brings together two corporate leviathans, Disney-owned Marvel and Sony, in a rare example of cooperation between rival studios on a major film.
“It was one of a handful of ‘this will never be possible but let’s dream about it’ moments at Marvel,” studio president Kevin Feige told reporters at the movie’s New York press day on Sunday.
Described by Marvel as the “crown jewel” of its comic book empire, the company sold “Spider-Man” to Sony for a reported US$7 million in 1999, when superheroes had not yet become white-hot cinematic properties.
The web-slinger has become Sony’s own most prized asset over five movies from 2002-2014 that grossed US$4 billion worldwide, making him the second-most bankable comic book character behind Batman.
But the last of these, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (2014), starring Andrew Garfield, was considered a financial and critical disappointment.
Sensing the writing was on the wall, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s then co-chairman Amy Pascal agreed in 2015 to allow Marvel Studios — after months of lobbying — to produce a new series of “Spider-Man” movies.
The result, starring 21-year-old Brit Tom Holland (“The Impossible”), is the first Spider-Man movie to exist in Marvel’s “cinematic universe,” a series of 15 interconnected superhero films.
Featuring Thor, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and many other comic book favorites, the franchise has hauled in a staggering US$11.8 billion, beginning with 2008’s “Iron Man.”
Pascal lost her job in the aftermath of the November 2014 Sony hack but was allowed as part of her severance package to stay on as a co-producer along with Feige of “Spider-Man: Homecoming.”
Sony paid Marvel an undisclosed producing fee, but keeps the profits and benefits from being able to include fan favorite Iron Man in its movie.
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