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Even though last we heard it was still at least a few years away, Disney is making sure their $4 billion buyout of Marvel starts paying back some of that investment sooner rather than later.
To that end, the studio has purchased the distribution rights for "The Avengers" and "Iron Man 3" from Paramount for a relatively bargain price of $115 million. The money will be owed on the release dates for the films, May 4, 2012 for the former and well, no release date yet for the latter. In fact, this is the first time there has been any release news on an "Iron Man 3" since last we heard it was still a few years away from happening, but now its been scheduled with a May 3, 2013 release date.
But when it does happen, don't expect Jon Favreau to return to the director's chair as relations between the director and the comic company have soured considerably.
As for Paramount, they are still on board to release "Thor" and "Captain America" as planned next year and they will also be releasing Favreau's next film, "Cowboys Vs. Aliens." [Deadline]
Whether they actually work and pay off creatively is definitely still up for debate, but damn, Marvel's plans are ambitious.
Yes, we've heard of possible "S.H.I.E.L.D." films starring Sam Jackson as Nick Fury (he is signed on for nine movies after all), solo films, or "Black Widow" (that would star Scarlett Johansson), but we always feel like these are part of Marvel's wishlist, wouldn't-it-be-awesome ideas or just talk. You can't plan this far in advance until you know whether your true-test, first wave of films ("Thor," "Captain America" and "The Avengers") will be profitable or not. Or can you?
The Marvel 2012 plan ends with "The Avengers" (roughly, there also is "The Runaways"), but now we've heard of a second plan that runs until 2017. This second wave likely includes films that we know of that have recently hired writers like "Dr. Strange," "Iron Man" and a few others that are in active (or soon-to-be active) development like, "Power Man," "Black Panther" and potentially the "Power Pack" (let's not forget Edgar Wright's "Ant-Man" which may or may not fall into this plan as well, depending on what he chooses as his next picture).
But there could be more added to that list like a new "Hulk" movie, and as once rumored, more "Avengers" films. Speaking to Empire, the new Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo, admitted -- like all Marvel actors -- he's signed a multi-picture deal. "They set up several pictures over a couple of years and possibly there will be a 'Hulk' movie. There'll probably be a couple more 'Avengers' too, which would be fun."
A couple more? Aren't these things going to cost like $200 million a piece with all those actors and effects (though Marvel salaries are notoriously low so maybe not). Ruffalo seems generally psyched to take on his first tentpole.
"The way I see it, Edward Norton has bequeathed this role to me. I reckon the part is my generation's Hamlet, and there's still some room for interpreting who The Hulk is. Growing up I'd rush home to watch my favorite show. You had the main character, played by Bill Bixby, and he had this calming quality to him. I watched it again recently, and it was so different from anything on TV at the time. You could really see the character struggling with the human aspect of what was happening."
Even though last we heard it was still at least a few years away, Disney is making sure their $4 billion buyout of Marvel starts paying back some of that investment sooner rather than later.
But when it does happen, don't expect Jon Favreau to return to the director's chair as relations between the director and the comic company have soured considerably.
