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Avengers Movie Setting Records

May 6, 2012: Avengers has set the biggest opening day numbers ever seen, if you don't count the final Harry Potter film (Deathly Hallows Part 2, which had a 7 film prequel trail to build toward the final). With Avengers, the "Superhero mash-up," Marvel (and Disney) has let Joss Whedon drive a cash train down the track and we won't know until next week a final tally on the numbers, but so far everything is so big and beyond expectations that there may be a few more surprises yet. If Nikki Finke's analysis catches on (that Avengers winning numbers are a reflection of the content being molded by actual comic book people and a cast that wanted to do the material); then there might be some interesting developments in future superhero films.

One certain element of Avenger's success (which will be even further cemented if Chris Nolan's 3rd Batman, "Dark Knight Rises" does as well as expected) is that the idea that audiences were getting weary of superheros after last years Green Lantern film crashed and burned with low numbers was simply incorrect.

(For context, the 1989 Tim Burton Batman made $43 million on its opening weekend, which at that time was the largest opening ever, further evidence of the appeal of comic book hero films over decades)

May 2, 2012: It is being reported that Marvel's AVENGERS film has already hit $268 USD million in receipts overseas, with the USA opening just a couple of days away.

Estimates are proposing a total take of $585 USA million by the time the American weekend opening is over.

See Nikki Finke on the money making of Avengers

Related: Scarlet Johansson Avengers Promo Art

The Triumph of 'Work for Hire'

July 2011: The Kirby Estate loses in the effort to claim (or reclaim, depending upon your view point) the character properties which Marvel Comics has owned and was sold to the Disney Company in 2009.

See more about this on the Disney/Marvel page here.

Marvel "dodges bullet" as Stan Lee Media suit fails in court once again

February 2011: Stan Lee himself long ago severed his relationship with the company he founded with his name on it, but because of conflicting problems over ownership of the Lee penned heroes at Marvel (X-Men, among others) the shareholders in SLM keep trying to find a way to get a finger on that lucrative stable of superhero properties. The latest legal gambit has been smacked down by District Judge Robert Sweet:

"A federal judge has dismissed a $1 billion lawsuit against Marvel Entertainment that claimed copyright infringement, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract when Stan Lee left the company that bares his name, Stan Lee Media Inc., for Marvel about a decade ago. The lawsuit was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds and the judge slammed the plaintiffs for trying to circumvent prior legal rulings."

Full story is at the Hollywood Reporter

Jack Kirby Estate and Marvel Comics face off in new legal judgment

December 2010: Federal Judge Colleen MacMahon has made rulings which are speeding up the legal contest between the Kirby Estate and Marvel (and Disney) over copyright ownership of a whole list of Marvel comics characters. Hollywood Reporter Eriq Gardner summarizes:

"In sum, the judge has narrowed the case to its most crucial issue. Both sides disagree about Kirby's working environment in the 1950s and 1960s when he, along with Stan Lee, conceived many of Marvel's most popular characters. The judge will soon be tasked with looking at Kirby's work history and some of the loose contracts and oral agreements that guided his efforts in those years.

Finally, Disney will be a part of this lawsuit, whether it wants to or not.

Marvel, which was purchased by Disney for $4 billion late last year, had attempted to dismiss its new corporate parent from the proceedings, shielding it from liability. Marvel had argued that the termination notices were sent a few months prior to the Disney acquisition.

However, Judge McMahon rules that it's immaterial, that Disney is now in the position to exploit Marvel's assets -- including the rights that Marvel has to Kirby-created characters -- and that Kirby's claim for declaratory relief must include Disney as well."

Our page on the Marvel Comics (and Disney) litigation with the Jack Kirby Estate