It was a little touch-and-go for a while, but Disney Studios and Sony Pictures have agreed to share Spider-Man once again.
Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Walt Disney Studios jointly announced today that Marvel Studios and its President Kevin Feige will produce the third film in the Spider-Man: Homecoming series, starring Tom Holland. The film is scheduled for release on July 16th, 2021. As part of the arrangement, Spider-Man will also appear in a future Marvel Studios film. Amy Pascal will also produce through Pascal Pictures, as she has previously on the last two Holland-led films.
“I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it,” said Feige. “Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe. He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.”
To recap, over the summer, news broke that the Disney, Marvel’s parent company, and Sony, who is still holding tightly onto an old Spider-Man film deal, had reached an impasse over a new financing deal. Disney wanted the film to be financed on a 50/50 basis with Marvel Studios chief Feige remaining in a consulting producer capacity. Sony is believed to have proposed keeping the arrangement under the current terms, which stipulate that Marvel receives about 5% of first-dollar gross and all merchandising revenues.
The new deal was signed late on Thursday night. Negotiations involved top players from both studios, including Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman, Feige, and Walt Disney Studios head Alan Horn. In exchange for lending Feige’s producing duties, Marvel and Disney will receive roughly 25% of the profits, according to Variety’s insiders. Disney will retain its merchandising rights. As part of the arrangement, Spider-Man will also appear in one future Marvel Studios film.
It’s nice to see that the MCU won’t be upset by a financial spat, as Disney probably decided that they’d rather be making a fraction of potential profits than none at all. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe on July 16th, 2021 (at the latest). Until then, we can expect to see other Spider-man films and products coming out of Sony, and more MCU films from Marvel and Disney.
