Hey guys! I’m really pleased today to be joined by Christina Warren of FlickCast and a new full time writer for Mashable.Com. Today we talk about just a couple of quick topics which include:
1) The Disney purchase of Marvel and what it means
2) Youtube to offer streaming movies for rent?
3) Legally downloadable DivX movies
You’ve got your choice. You can either watch the discussion here:
Or you can listen to it here
Comment with Facebook
I wouldn’t worry about Disney changing Marvel’s content.
Disney has owned Miramax, which put out Pulp Fiction. Disney has no problem making money off of R-rated stuff. It’s not like the “Disney” name or the mouse-ear logos are going to be put on any R-rated comics.
I don’t think the average target age-group is all THAT different, though. Over the course of the last decade or so, basically everyone under 40 are all into the same things, for the most part. Comics are read by 35-year-olds, but many of the same comics can be read and are read by 15-year-olds. Same with Disney movies: films like Cars and the Incredibles reach ages 6 to 40, easily. Of course, there are different median ages for the average audience member or whatever, but you’re still talking about hitting the same very broad demographic. We’re talking about THE demographic for everything pop culture, basically. Most profitable franchises on earth are able to connect with anyone under 40 without too much trouble. The generation entering their forties now (basically the Gen-Xers) are just BIG KIDS, basically. They’d watch a Marvel movie, they might read a comic book, they would watch a Pixar movie, they would watch a Miramax movie.
is that THE christina, who frequently posts here??
I’ve been thinking about this Thor thing for awhile also. I really don’t see how the concept will work for big budget marvel film. He may work on the comic book pages, but how will he relate to the general public and make millions? If they do make this film, I think they should seriously consider if they need to focus on his being a god with parents who are gods. People like me, who don’t exactly read alot of comic books, I really don’t see how this will work. But if they do it in a crafty way that is more universal, like he is from an alien world living here on earth, I could see that working.
One of the reasons Disney bought Marvel is because pre-teen boys don’t watch Disney cartoons, or go to most Disney Movies.
This was great John, really enjoyed listening to Chritina Warren she was really knowledgeable about all thing Disney!
Regarding an Avengers movie, I could care less about an Avengers movie until Marvel can prove to me that they can make a Captain America movie that is legitimate. I have seen two live action Captain America movies in my youth and they were both terrible, they came off as campy and totally unbelievable. How about reviving Captain America first and make him viable before even thinking about an Avengers film.
After all, Cap is the greatest of all the Avengers is he not? Worry about Cap and the Avengers buzz will take care of itself.
Thor will probably be a joint production between Marvel, Disney and Paramount. Both Disney and Paramount can decide who wants to distribute and market this movie in North America and Overseas.
Disney will probably take overseas as they are better at marketing worldwide while paramount domestically.
Thor is an existing deal already in motion. Nothing will change.
Disney will have input on deals set after the acquisition but will have no ability to change deals already in place.
My guess is we won’t see any joint productions between disney and marvel for at least a decade. I don’t think that’s even a stretch at all either, considering most properties are already tied up with other deals for another 8 years or so.
No, no no, I refuse to hear such talk. Thor will be made if for no other reason that they have a script, a director and a lead actor. It’s ready to go (about as ready as Green Lantern anyway). If it works then they have another franchise and are a step closer to the Avengers. If it doesn’t work, Disney gets to put the boot in and take charge.
And Christina is absolutely right about ‘DisneyWar’. It is hands down the best non-fiction book I’ve ever read and you should all give it a go.
Thanks a lot for the show guys.
While I don’t think Thor will fall apart I wouldn’t spend 150 million plus marketing costs to produce it. You are right- I can’t see a huge mainstream interest in that charater.
chuck
Actually you’d be surprised! My girlfriend was just joking with me the other day that we should name our first-born Loki! She doesn’t even read comics, she just heard the name and was interested in it.
Plus the interesting thing about Thor is it goes beyond comic books and into Norse mythology, which could appeal to anyone. I mean, if they marketed as more of a mythological adventure movie a-la Conan (with less barbarian, more Shakespeare) I think you could have a decently general public action flick!
“50 episodes of Family Guy straight?!” I used to like it but now it’s just become stupid. For me it all fell apart with the Shawshank Redemption episode.
But you gotta admit the Cool Whip or however he pronounces it was funny
Yeah, but after he did that at 3 different times in one episode and how many other times in the whole series, it gets annoying and doing a stupid flashback every minute and a half to stupid shit that has nothing to do with the plot. And how they parody movies, it’s not even clever like in South Park or the Simpsons, its basically just, “Hey, remember this scene from the Godfather, we’re just gonna totally rip-off that entire scene in the most obvious way possible.”
Yeah, but personally I still like it. American Dad is NOT funny though.
Ditto
Im glad you guys hit the subject of Marvel characters still being attached to Sony/FOX etc.
Too bad that this wont connect characters that where separated by these contracts.
Why the hell did D Craig say no to Thor???
agh!
Good thing you got that “347,348” thing sorted out
Just think of Pixar and Marvel teaming together on projects. Most awesome.
the podcasts with soul video are better
John, I gotta say, I’m surprised you think Thor may fall apart. I mean, you could be right, but it just feels unlikely to me. It seems the project is pretty far into pre-production. We’ve had a lot of casting news, though I understand what you mean by unknown stars.
It just seems to me that Thor is picking up steam and getting ready to go before the camera. It’s a hell of lot further than Captain America, which is supposed to come out around the same time.
Don’t they already have a deal with Paramount in regards to Avengers?
I can understand disney not screwing up pixar, because pixar was already a children’s brand. For the most part, kids do not read comics (ok fine, they do) but the majority of comic readers are in the 20-30 range. The fact is there is a major shift between Disney’s target audience and Marvel’s.
Now I know that a buyout doesn’t necessarily mean creative control- BUT Disney is famous for looking down on anything that might shed negative light on ‘the mouse’. (Example, Disney freakout over miley cirus pictures, etc.)
That’s more what I’m concerned about. A lot of Marvel comics get pretty damned dark, so yeah- I’m a little concerned that there might be some changes.
Well, see Disney has a number of different studio brands that they use for their films. They usually reserve the “Walt Disney Pictures” brand for family fare (Pirates of the Caribbean was the first PG-13 film to get the Walt Disney Pictures heading), and they have Touchstone for more adult-fare. They also have Miramax, So insofar as keeping stuff squeaky clean, I think the studio is more lax about that than they used to be and they also have always had other “brands” to distribute a film under for more adult fare.
I’m not saying it couldn’t be a concern — but I don’t think it’s as bad as some might think. The Miley Cyrus thing is a little different, when you’re selling a TV show, international rights, movies and music to a certain audience, the last thing you want is for that squeaky clean image to become tarnished.
But we’ll see. It wouldn’t be in Disney’s best interest to sanitize Marvel, I’m confident they know that.
True enough, and I actually expect less censoring, but more “Hey let’s come out with a more kids friendly line of comics.” Which is fine for a time, but the problem is if Marvel’s product line becomes too saturated with that kind of stuff- It kind of looses its credibility.
We already have ‘The Ultimates’ line for the tweens, we definitely don’t need ‘The squeezables’ for the k-6 crowd.
Wow I really like Christiana. Now that I have more of a face to put to the voice I’m actually rather looking forward to listening to her in future podcasts. She seems really professional and knowledgeable, and it doesn’t hurt that she’s pretty dang good looking.
When she talks she makes me feel really stupid. The funniest thing is that she can talk the longest sentence imaginable without any pauses or stops.
Netflix on your PC, XBOX360, Hulu, http://www.tv.com, all the cable channels ( abc,fox,cbs,nbc ) .. if you want to see it.. its out there for free..
Yeah but Hulu sucks for anyone outside of the US.
Good show, John.
Please go back to the weekly podcast schedule! I miss them..
i like this chick, bring her back
Everyone does dude
Nice podcast/video guys.
I’m freaking concerned. Disney attached to Marvel, it just doesn’t sound right. Hopefully they don’t mess things up
I honestly wouldn’t worry about it Aaron. Things worked out magnificently with Pixar. Disney is now filled with smart people who know how to make money and know that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. At least that’s how it appears to me.
True. It still appears as an odd mix to me though, and I didn’t even see it coming at ALL.
I’m surprised you guys won’t talk about Gamer not being screened for critics. I hope you at least write an article about it.
I really don’t have a problem with what Disney and Marvel are doing. It’s business.