A new report indicates that Spider-Man and his universe of characters could fully revert to Sony if Spider-Man: Far From Home does not make $1 billion.
As reported by SlashFilm, Richard Rushfield’s entertainment industry newsletter, The Ankler, allegedly reveals a crucial part of the deal between Sony and Marvel Studios that was signed back in 2015 that allowed Marvel Studios to include Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Ankler states:
“The original Sony/Marvel/Spidey deal to co-produce these movies stipulated that if this Spidey cleared a billion, Marvel would get to oversee a third. If it hadn’t, full control would have reverted back to Sony, which raised the specter that America’s Most Beloved Entertainment Executive would look to cash in/out every way possible, as well as grab complete unexpurgated credit for the victory and thrown superhero canon to the wind. (Not something he was ever a fan of in the first place). It was feared he would have tossed Spidey and Venom together for a quickie mash-up that very potentially could’ve sunk both.”
Rushfield noted this information came from “someone very important and knowledgeable.”
Someone very important and knowledgeable. Very!
— Richard Rushfield – (@richardrushfield) July 9, 2019
However, Tom Holland, who plays Peter Parker and Spider-Man, revealed back in 2016 that he had signed on for six films. Three of them were solo Spider-Man films and three others in MCU movies. Holland has already appeared in two solo Spider-Man films and has appeared in three other MCU films in Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
Holland told The Hollywood Reporter at the time, “I do know I have three Spider-Man [appearances in other] movies and three solo movies contracted.”
When the Spider-Man deal between Sony and Marvel was announced, Sony had “final creative control of the Spider-Man films.” However, it’s quite apparent that Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios team have heavily influenced the Spider-Man films given both solo Spider-Man films have heavy tie-ins to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man playing a key role in Homecoming and Nick Fury or as they revealed in the film Talos from Captain Marvel played a key role in Far From Home.
Spider-Man: Far From Home has currently earned $577.7 million at the worldwide box office in its first week. Most insiders indicate the film will gross over $1 billion worldwide. If it does gross over $1 billion it will be the first Spider-Man film to do so based on unadjusted numbers. Spider-Man 3 is currently the highest grossing Spider-Man film bringing in $890.9 million at the global box office according to Box Office Mojo.
What do you make of this new report?