Month: August 2019

MCU to Lose Spider-Man over Sony/Disney Profit Sharing Kerfuffle, Ending 2015 Partnership

/ Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fans Society / 1 Comment

A 2015 agreement between #Sony Pictures Entertainment and #MarvelComics (under the ownership of Disney) has permitted Marvel to be able to have the character #SpiderMan appear in multiple MCU movies to joy of many fans. That agreement now appears to be in jeopardy after Sony walked away from talks with Disney after Disney wanted to change the profit-sharing split to a 50/50 split on future film profits, as well as continued access to Kevin Feige, who has produced some of the MCU’s most profitable films.

According to Deadline’s Mike Fleming, Jr.:

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige won’t produce any further Spider-Man films because of an inability by Disney and Sony Pictures to reach new terms that would have given the former a co-financing stake going forward. Disney asked that future Spider-Man films be a 50/50 co-financing arrangement between the studios, and there were discussions that this might extend to other films in the Spider-Man universe. Sony turned that offer down flat, and I don’t believe they even came back to the table to figure out a compromise.

With Sony walking away, they’re taking the rights to use Spider-Man with them. This now means that future MCU movies probably won’t have the web-slinger again, even though he appeared in several very profitable MCU films:

The agreement also allowed Kevin Feige’s involvement in the two most recent standalone Spider-Man films, which also performed very well at the box office:

  • “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, which earned $880,166,924 worldwide
  • “Spider-Man: Far from Home”, which earned $1,110,682,751 worldwide making it Sony’s highest grossing film ever.

Together, these 5 films earned have earned $7,988,469,578 worldwide, which is $4-billion more than the worldwide combined earnings for the 5 Sony-only Spider-Man films that preceded them: $3,963,259,504 (“Spider-Man”, “Spider-Man 2”, “Spider-Man 3”, “The Amazing Spider-Man” & “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”).

Naturally, fans aren’t happy about the loss of Spider-Man in the MCU, but the only players who can do anything about it are Sony and Disney. Actor Tom Holland is also apparently not happy about the split.

Robert Downy, Jr. & Tom Holland

Robert Downy, Jr. & Tom Holland in “Spider-Man: Homecoming”

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2nd Season of “Star Wars Resistance” to be its Last; Trailer Revealed

/ Sci-Fi & Fantasy Fans Society

The new trailer for the 2nd season of “#StarWars #Resistance” has been released. However, this will also be its final season.

The 2nd & last season will serve as a bridge story that takes place between #TheLastJedi and #TheRiseOfSkywalker. “The final season of Resistance takes place during The Last Jedi and leading up to the events of The Rise of Skywalker,” a Disney rep said. “With the movie coming up in December, this was a natural place to end the show with an epic finale.”

The official description of the final season of “Resistance” is as follows:

“The story picks up after a harrowing escape from the First Order, as the Colossus and all its residents find themselves lost in space, pursued by Agent Tierny and Commander Pyre. Kaz and team also face a myriad of new dangers along the way including bounty hunters, a suspicious Hutt, General Hux, and Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. Meanwhile, Tam grapples with her future and where her true allegiance lies, with her friends or the First Order. The thrilling final season will showcase how the unlikeliest of heroes can help spark hope across the galaxy.”

In terms of viewers, “Resistance”, has never achieved the same number of viewers as its two animated predecessors did:

  • #TheCloneWars, which ran for 5 seasons on the #CartoonNetwork & a partial 6th season on #Netflix for a total of 133 episodes. When the series premiered, it became the most-watched series premiere in Cartoon Network history with 3-million viewers.
  • #Rebels, which ran for four seasons on the #DisneyXD network for a total of 75 episodes. Worldwide, it delivered a total of 6.5 million viewers when it premiered on various networks.

While both predecessors had large followings among adult “Star Wars” fans, Disney & LucasFilm wanted to make “Resistance” have a greater appeal to children, so they abandoned the 3D CGI that had been used in favor of a flat 2D animation style that makes it look more like a low-budget Japanese anime. Also, while the stories in both predecessors appealed to both young and adult fans, the plots in “Resistance” were clearly designed to appeal more to kids only. The result: most adult fans of the two predecessors didn’t watch the first season of “Resistance”, so it’s viewership numbers plummeted in comparison. The show premiered with about 330,000 viewers with an average of 400,000 viewers per episode.

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RIP Barbara March

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#RIP: we are saddened to report the apparent passing of actress Barbara March (a.k.a., Barbara Scarfe), who reportedly died on Aug. 11, 2019, at the age of 65, as posted by her husband Alan on Facebook.

She played Lursa of the House of Duras in #StarTrek #TNG, #DS9, & “Star Trek VII: #Generations”; & more, including work on stage. She was also a writer.

Our sincerest condolences to her family, friends and fans. May she rest in peace. She has earned her place in Sto’Vo’Kor.

Barbara March (1953-2019)

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