Marvel Comic character split among warring movie studios

Marvel was forced to sell off the film rights to many of their prominent characters a few decades back when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.

The 16 films under the Marvel Cinematic Universe banner have averaged $791 million worldwide, and the new Thor Ragnarok (17th film) set to be the 5th Disney Marvel film to break a billion dollars.

By contrast the earnings of the 15 films under the Fox studio have averaged $401 million seem dismal. The re-boot of the Fantastic Four was considered a world class failure. The earlier Daredevil and Elektra also did poorly.

For the next four Marvel comic films Fox is still on their own. Fanboys want to see the entire Marvel universe reunited.

14. Feb. 2019 Gambit
2. Nov. 2018 Dark Phoenix
1. Jun. 2018 Deadpool 2
13. Apr. 2018 New Mutants
....
3. Mar. 2017 Logan
27. May. 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse
12. Feb. 2016 Deadpool ($783 million is the FOX worldwide top grossing Marvel film)
7. Aug. 2015 Fantastic Four
23. May. 2014 X-Men: Days of Future Past
26. Jul. 2013 The Wolverine
3. Jun. 2011 X-Men: First Class
1. May. 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
15. Jun. 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
26. May. 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand
8. Jul. 2005 Fantastic Four (2005)
14. Jan. 2005 Elektra
2. May. 2003 X2: X-Men United
14. Feb. 2003 Daredevil
14. Jul. 2000 X-Men

I understand negotiations are underway for Disney to purchase Fox's library for their online streaming service. If they pull it off, it will be a big deal for Marvel.

Quote: Pacomartin

3. Jun. 2011 X-Men: First Class

Is that the sequel to X-Men: Business Class?

Quote: Ayecarumba

I understand negotiations are underway for Disney to purchase Fox's library for their online streaming service. If they pull it off, it will be a big deal for Marvel.

I think they want control of the characters back to incorporate them into the future Marvel Universe films. That is much more important than the ability to stream old movies.

Marvel shares that had been worth $35.75 in 1993 dropped to $2.38 in just three years. The firm was only saved by a merger with toy company ToyBiz. To save the firm they sold film rights. Fox bought the X-Men and Fantastic Four, Sony took on Spider-Man and New Line made the Blade trilogy. Only Marvel wasn't sharing in the profits. According to an article on Slate, the company made a mere $25,000 from the first Blade film. And, of the $3 billion that Spider-Man 1 and 2 raked in, Marvel saw only $62 million. Worse still - as Hollywood jumped on the superhero bandwagon, they rushed out films based on Elektra, the Punisher and Daredevil which proved to be critical and commercial disasters.

Marvel tried to regain control of their characters, so they bought back The Hulk, whose 2003 film was a disappointment, and tried to start Iron Man franchise. Iron Man was considered a relatively minor character and was not sold during the bankruptcy period. The new series of films was called the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which echoed the comic book idea of a "universe" in which all the characters lived and whose story lines were intertwined.

The first two films of the MCU were mixed.
May 2, 2008 "Iron Man" Worldwide: $585,174,222
June 13, 2008 "The Incredible Hulk" Worldwide: $263,427,551

Iron Man was a smash hit, but The Incredible Hulk made about the same amount of money as "The Hulk" five years earlier.


June 20, 2003 "Hulk" Worldwide: $245,360,480

Quote: Pacomartin

The re-boot of the Fantastic Four was considered a world class failure.

The first fantastic Four movie with Jessica Alba was rather ok, for basic cable.

Quote:

The earlier Daredevil and Elektra also did poorly.

I think in TBBT Leonard says this in response to a marathon of "movies that killed the franchise":

Oh, Superman III, Star Trek V, Daredevil one.