Lionsgate, Marvel, RKO Reach Agreements With Writers Guild
AMPTP rolls eyes, mutters "Whatever."
Informal talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers may have resumed, but that doesn't mean the Writers Guild of America has dialed back its efforts to reach interim agreements with independent production companies.
The WGA's been busy, in fact -- and has new interim deals with Lionsgate, Marvel, and RKO to prove it.
The AMPTP, as you might have guessed, was quick to dismiss the agreements, issuing the following statement:
"These one-off agreements are meaningless because the companies signing them know they will not have to abide by their terms for very long, since they'll be superseded by whatever final industry-wide accords are reached. If companies truly had to live by the terms of these one-off agreements, we are confident none would ever be signed."
Cattiness aside, the deals do have a number of immediate effects, particularly for Lionsgate, which has projects in development for film and television. On the TV side, the agreement enables Lionsgate to get started on new seasons of Weeds and Mad Men. According to Variety, as the strike wears on, "Lionsgate could wind up as the only major player that is able to proceed on script revisions and pilot production."
Marvel, meanwhile, plans to use the deal to reopen development on a number of future projects; according to chairman David Maisel, the studio's docket includes Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, and The Avengers.
Source: Variety (Lionsgate, Marvel)
Source: Variety (RKO)
The WGA's been busy, in fact -- and has new interim deals with Lionsgate, Marvel, and RKO to prove it.
The AMPTP, as you might have guessed, was quick to dismiss the agreements, issuing the following statement:
"These one-off agreements are meaningless because the companies signing them know they will not have to abide by their terms for very long, since they'll be superseded by whatever final industry-wide accords are reached. If companies truly had to live by the terms of these one-off agreements, we are confident none would ever be signed."
Cattiness aside, the deals do have a number of immediate effects, particularly for Lionsgate, which has projects in development for film and television. On the TV side, the agreement enables Lionsgate to get started on new seasons of Weeds and Mad Men. According to Variety, as the strike wears on, "Lionsgate could wind up as the only major player that is able to proceed on script revisions and pilot production."
Marvel, meanwhile, plans to use the deal to reopen development on a number of future projects; according to chairman David Maisel, the studio's docket includes Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, and The Avengers.
Source: Variety (Lionsgate, Marvel)
Source: Variety (RKO)
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(1-20 of 24 posts) | Reply
on Jan 28 2008 06:29 AM I hope that some of Marvel's superhero movies won't turn out like some of the other washes like Catwoman or Daredevil. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 28 2008 06:30 AM oh good... as i started reading i thought to myself "please, please, don't take away Ant-Man!!!" Problem averted! (such a stupid idea...) at least it's somewhat of a progress. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 07:45 AM Perhaps a pipe dream, but I'd like to see the major studios who are holding out be destroyed by these agreements, allowing companies like Lionsgate to take center stage. Screw the AMPTP and all their self-righteous cattiness. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 28 2008 08:16 AM I have always liked Lionsgate and thought of them as smart, and being the geek that I am, of course I like Marvel. So I'm very happy that they worked out deals, and are moving forward. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 28 2008 08:17 AM Honestly. Besides hard-core comic fans, who knows about Ant-Man. He's a major player in the Marvel Universe, but casual fans don't know about him. You can't tell me they make these movies for the comic fans with how bad they hack a lot of the characters. With The Avengers movie (another bad idea), I wonder if they'll have Vision, who's one of my favorites. I doubt it, but I also can't imagine how they'd portray him visually (I mean him, not his powers). I prefer the all-white costume, but even that wouldn't look right on-screen. They'd probably just make him look human and glue a gem on his forehead, which would be just stupid. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 08:21 AM Damn, I want editing capabilities on these posts! By casual fans, I mean the ones that only know super-heroes from cartoons, which seems to be the target audience. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 08:49 AM Those Marvel movies sound interesting.........except Ant-man! who the hell would go see Ant-man??? (Reply to this) |
on Jan 28 2008 08:53 AM I had no idea RKO was still around (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 11:30 AM In reply to this comment (#1532858) The same people who went to see Elektra, Catwoman, the Fantastic Four series, etc. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 12:20 PM How is the Avengers movie a bad idea? (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 12:22 PM In reply to this comment (#1533218) Well I wouldn't necessarily say the same people who went to see those films. Rather, those who liked those pictures. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 12:36 PM does this mean we can expect SAW 5 to written or was it already written before the strike? (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 12:57 PM RKO still exists!? (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 01:00 PM Oh my GOD! They DO exist! And they made "Are We Done Yet?"!!! And they have a partnership with Twisted Pictures! Poor RKO. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 28 2008 01:44 PM What's RKO gonna do now that Fay Rae is dead? (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 03:18 PM whoooo hooooo whatever (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 03:39 PM RKO? Citizen Kane sequel? (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 03:40 PM Elixor, they want to bring back Ant-Man...I mean...can't even find words... So I can see they would foolheartedly bring back vision as well. (Reply to this) |
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on Jan 28 2008 04:24 PM Ant-Man will be awesome. Mark my words. Edgar Wright is the perfect guy to handle it. I fully expect a fast-paced, quotable, highly entertaining movie that is fiercely loyal to the source material. That it is about one of the least-known superheroes is the whole point! There are no studio bosses breathing down Wright's neck to change this (Fantastic Four) or throw in that (Spiderman 3.) No legions of fanboys criticizing every small development (Transformers.) Wright has the freedom to make another amazing movie. (Reply to this) |
on Jan 28 2008 05:47 PM I dont know why so many people think "The Avengers" is such a bad idea. I cant wait for them to make that! And I say bring on Antman. For all we know it could turn out to be awesome. And if it sucks who cares? They arent putting off other projects to make it, so whats the big deal? (Reply to this) |
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