November
7
Report Projects Strength at Marvel
Marvel released its third-quarter financial report Monday with plenty of tidbits for fans. Yes, the company reported a drop in net income from last year, but is firming up a strong lineup of movie releases for the next few years.
Most interesting was that most of the decline came from Marvel’s licensing segment, while publishing and toy sales showed strong increases. Publishing posted a net sales increase of 20 percent to $31 million for the quarter, mostly due to strong sales of trade paperbacks and hardcover editions, as well as the success of Civil War. Marvel took in $33 million for the quarter in net sales, though comparisons to last year’s $4.9 million are comparing apples to oranges as Marvel took over toy production this year from its master toy licensee.
On the movie front, Marvel set a June 27, 2008, release date for “The Incredible Hulk,” which will be directed by Louis Leterrier from a script by Zak Penn. That means Marvel will have two major pics set for summer 2008, with the Jon Favreau-helmed “Iron Man” set for a May 2 release. While Marvel only had “X-Men: The Last Stand” released in 2006, it will release three films in 2007: “Ghost Rider” on Feb. 16, “Spider-Man 3” on May 4, and “Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer” on June 15.
On its slate of self-financed pics, Marvel reports a writer and director are attached to “Ant Man” and writers are working on “Captain America,” “Nick Fury,” “Thor” and “The Avengers” with no release dates set. Other properties that may be developed under this deal are “Black Panther,” “Cloak & Dagger,” “Doctor Strange,” “Hawkeye,” “Power Pack” and “Shang Chi: Master of Kung-Fu.”
Marvel’s upcoming licensed pics include “Wolverine” and “Magneto” at Fox, “The Punisher 2” at Lionsgate and “Namor” at Universal. No release dates have been set for any of them.
Animated TV series in the works include the “Fantastic Four” series that debuted in September on Cartoon Network, “Wolverine and the X-Men” and “Iron Man.” No new titles have been officially added to the DVD animated features lineup, which will release “Doctor Strange” and “Iron Man” films in 2007. “Alter Ego,” “Moon Knight” and “Skrull Kill Krew” are in development as live-action TV projects.
On the videogame front, Marvel will follow up the release of “Ultimate Alliance” with 2007 releases for “Ghost Rider” and “Fantastic Four 2” (Take Two), “Marvel VS. Card Game” (Konami), “Spider-Man 3” and “Spider-Man Trilogy” (Activision), and “Marvel Nemesis 2” (Electronic Arts). Marvel announced that Sega has acquired the rights to do a game based on the “Iron Man” film that will be released day and date with the film. Sega is in talks with Marvel to do another game, possibly “Hulk.”
Subscribe to this blog's feed
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341bfc7553ef00d8356d0df869e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Report Projects Strength at Marvel :
Comments