Update: Yesterday, we reported on the breakdown of talks between Disney and Sony, which might have a negative effect on the MCU. Basically, the removal of Spider-Man, much to the grief of comic book and movie fans.
Sony recently spoke out regarding what’s happening and while it doesn’t resolve anything, the response is worth reading.
Much of today’s news about Spider-Man has mischaracterized recent discussions about Kevin Feige’s involvement in the franchise. We are disappointed, but respect Disney’s decision not to have him continue as a lead producer of our next live action Spider-Man film. (1/3)
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) August 21, 2019
Kevin is terrific and we are grateful for his help and guidance and appreciate the path he has helped put us on, which we will continue. (3/3)
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) August 21, 2019
This breakdown occurred over money. As it stands right now Disney wants a 50/50 co-financing deal for future installments of the Spider-Man franchise. Currently, they only receives 5% of the profits, despite Marvel Studios producing the solo movies. Sony isn’t hearing any of that and has decided to walk out of the talks. Which puts Disney in a rough spot as they won’t back down. However, Sony does own the movie rights to Spider-Man, so as you’dimagine, they are holding all the power right now.
Original story below
Bad news for fans of the MCU — even though Disney is working on getting more content with our favorite superheroes than ever, Spider-Man won’t be one of them. According to Deadline, Disney and Sony Pictures are unable to reach new terms that would have given the former a co-financing stake going forward and thus, the Spider-Man deal is no more.
The original plan was to do two more films in the MCU Spider-Man franchise with Tom Holland as the star and Jon Watts as the director. This is especially distressing given Spider-Man has featured as a key player in the last Avengers films and Far From Home ended with a massive cliffhanger. Nothing’s been officially announced yet, however, by either side so there might still be hope.
Supposedly, Disney asked that future Spider-Man films be a 50/50 co-financing arrangement, which Sony was none too pleased about. They countered with keeping the arrangement going under the current terms where Marvel receives in the range of 5% of first dollar gross, but Disney turned that down. Negotiations have, reportedly, closed on the issue, but Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president, has been known to perform miracles before. After all, he reportedly help bring James Gunn back to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. And Feige and Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman spoke about the possibility of a wider involvement in the Sony-controlled Spider-man universe, which would have electrified fans even further. Does Sony think after Into the Spiderverse that they’re ready to take on live-action again? We’ll have to see.
This story is ongoing and we will update it as more details are announced.
