Sony Turned Down Offer to Buy All the Marvel Characters for Only $25 Million

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Sony Turned Down Offer to Buy All the Marvel Characters for Only $25 Million in 1998

Disney has managed to assemble most of the Marvel characters under one roof, but it turns out Sony had the chance to do it first. That's right, the studio behind the Spider-Man franchise could have had way more than just the webhead (via The Wall Street Journal).

It all started back in 1998 when Sony was attempting to secure the film rights to Spider-Man from Marvel. At the time Marvel was far from the goliath it is now in the film world and had just started making film deals. They were also right out of bankruptcy, and that resulted in a huge offering of IP.

Sony Pictures executive Yair Landau met with Marvel about the rights to Spider-Man. They already had the DVD rights but wanted the full film rights. New Marvel chief Ike Perlmutter made him a surprising counter offer, where Sony would not only take Spider-Man but also pretty much every other Marvel character, including Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, and Black Panther. That deal would cost Sony $25 million...and they balked.

After Landau took the offer back to his bosses at Sony, they quickly shot it down. “Nobody gives a shit about any of the other Marvel characters," Landau recalled. "Go back and do a deal for only Spider-Man.”

So they did, and a deal was made. Marvel sold Spider-Man to Sony for $10 million, plus 5% of any movies' gross revenue and half the revenue from consumer products. Marvel was a bit desperate for cash at the time, so that might have seemed like a win on their part, but Perlmutter's business partner Avi Arad didn't think so, calling the deal "pitiful". Those first few films would be quite profitable for Sony, but eventually, the franchise lost its way a bit, resulting in a deal much later that allowed Marvel to produce the franchise, which brought fans Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Now, there was no way for Sony to know that characters like Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk would such massive draws, especially at the time. Still, that must sting a little, especially looking at what Marvel Studios has been able to build in the years since.

Sony Once Turned Down The Opportunity To Buy Movie Rights To All Marvel Characters For Only $25 Million

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Sony now be like...

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

Eh, even if Sony did get them all, they'd probably screw it up anyways.

 

[EvilDDS]

“Nobody gives a sh—about any of the other Marvel characters," Landau recalled. "Go back and do a deal for only Spider-Man.”

Haha, wow

 

[Nesruk]

Eh, even if Sony did get them all, they'd probably screw it up anyways.

Was just about to write this. Even if they had them there is no guarantee that they would make the movies work. If you look at the IP they had access to they haven't really been able to do much with it.

 

[neverwas]

so have disney got their tentacles involved in mcu?

 

[Nesruk]

so have disney got their tentacles involved in mcu?

Of course, they own it. Bought it not long ago. Just dont hope that it means they will quit making R-rated movies like Deadpool since it doesnt fit with the "disney image". Hopefully they'll just keep making them in the Fox name.

 

[Myrddin Wild]

In hindsite with someone else running the ship... it's easy to say Sony f*cked up... but like Dragon said, they might of f*cked it up.

It certainly would've been a completely different set of heads working the characters... & so I feel we are blessed that it went down how it did.

Now if only DC could've gotten into the right hands

 

[Magooglie]

Marvel movies would be dead in a ditch if Sony had made the deal.

 

[KnightTemplar]

Marvel fans like myself dodged a bullet

 

[method115]

Eh, even if Sony did get them all, they'd probably screw it up anyways.

Probably similar to what they do now. Some hits here and there and lots of screw ups.

 

[KreamPuff]

Of course, they own it. Bought it not long ago. Just dont hope that it means they will quit making R-rated movies like Deadpool since it doesnt fit with the "disney image". Hopefully they'll just keep making them in the Fox name.

There was an article with Bob Iger where it sounds like there's hope for franchises where it's commonly known that the movie would be R rated like Deadpool. I think Disney doesn't want to create a new R rated IP, and have fans mistakenly bring their young kids to watch.

 

[Lethal]

Not as bad as Blockbuster passing on an opportunity to purchase Netflix (which would then go on to put them out of business).

If it was in the Mid 2000s that would have been a major blow, but in 1998 like you said we were still a decade away before the Marvel characters started to blow up. Though I wonder how things would have ended up had Sony purchased them.

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

As everyone has already said, this was probably for the best.

It takes a lot more than just studio executives throwing money at a project to make it successful.

Somebody needs to have a vision.

 

[SoberAwakening]

It's easy to Monday morning QB this topic. As a dude who was born in the 80s and spent most of my childhood in the 90s and early 2000s, the only superheroes worth talking about were Batman, Superman, Spiderman and the X-Men.

Nobody cared about Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Panther, or Dr. Strange. People knew of them, but there wasn't this need for them. And nobody could've predicted the 10 year Marvel plan that actually ended up being the best thing to happen to comic book superheroes and the superhero genre of movies.

 

[syct23]

It's like that girl you always obsessed about..

Then the day came when she gave you a chance..

But by then you knew by reputation that it was just going to be to much of a damn hassle to deal with.

 

[James T. Kirk]

Of course, they own it. Bought it not long ago. Just dont hope that it means they will quit making R-rated movies like Deadpool since it doesnt fit with the "disney image". Hopefully they'll just keep making them in the Fox name.

There was an article with Bob Iger where it sounds like there's hope for franchises where it's commonly known that the movie would be R rated like Deadpool. I think Disney doesn't want to create a new R rated IP, and have fans mistakenly bring their young kids to watch.

'Deadpool' Can Stay R-Rated at Disney; Other R-Rated Marvel Movies Are Possible

 

[Bald1]

It's easy to Monday morning QB this topic. As a dude who was born in the 80s and spent most of my childhood in the 90s and early 2000s, the only superheroes worth talking about were Batman, Superman, Spiderman and the X-Men.

Nobody cared about Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Panther, or Dr. Strange. People knew of them, but there wasn't this need for them. And nobody could've predicted the 10 year Marvel plan that actually ended up being the best thing to happen to comic book superheroes and the superhero genre of movies.

Lots of people cared about the Avengers. A friend of mine worked in a comic book store in the late 80s early90s and Thor and Iron Man had a fair size and ollowing.

 

[Zookeeper Gabe]

Thank fucking Christ.

 

[Jopious Extronimous]

Honestly, I'm surprised. If they were willing to invest in Spider-man I'm kinda surprised they never even considered the others.

If they were willing to make a Spiderman movie, they should've been all for an X-men and Hulk movie too. They're just as well known if not more. Hell I could see a 2000 Hulk film alone easily recouping that 25 million.

I'm really glad they didn't, but I think Sony was completely stupid for not jumping at it.