X-Men 2
Buy This Double-sided poster At AllPosters.com
X-Men 2
Buy This Poster At AllPosters.com
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
MARVEL COMICS FOR JULY
Marvel Comics has released its solicitation information for July.
For a complete rundown, CLICK HERE.
DC COMICS FOR JULY
DC Comics has released its solicitation information for July.
For a complete rundown, CLICK HERE.
For a rundown of DC Direct products, CLICK HERE.
SPIDER-MAN MOVIE LAWSUIT UPDATE
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge on Tuesday denied a motion brought by Sony Pictures Entertainment to seal proceedings in a lawsuit brought by Marvel Enterprises concerning Spider-Man.
According to a release from Marvel, Judge Alexander Williams III ruled that all aspects of Marvel's lawsuit will henceforth be entirely open to the press and to the public.
On Feb. 25, Marvel filed, temporarily under seal, a 12-count complaint against Sony. The lawsuit seeks more than $50 million in damages as well as rescission of the License Agreement between Marvel and Sony and an injunction against any further film or television production by Sony of Spider-Man beyond the current sequel, Spider-Man 2.
The sequel, again starring Tobey Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi, is currently in production in New York.
Marvel has asked to try its case to a jury.
The suit accuses Sony of fraud and of deliberately misleading Marvel by failing to disclose its intent to misappropriate Spider-Man for itself to the exclusion of Marvel. Marvel claims that Sony falsely represented that it offered Marvel unique and unparalleled merchandising opportunities -- unlike any other potential partner, but Sony never delivered on its false promises. The suit also charges Sony with material breaches of the parties' License Agreement and merchandising joint venture, and of wrongfully withholding millions of dollars it owed to Marvel, by using "Hollywood accounting" practices and refusing to provide critical financial information owed to Marvel.
"Sony's allegations that this dispute arose out of Marvel's allegedly improper accounting is completely false," Carole Handler, one of Marvel's attorneys, said. "As Marvel's Complaint makes clear, Marvel is owed millions of dollars by Sony, and the reason for this lawsuit is Sony's appropriation of the Spider-Man character for itself. Marvel created the popularity that ensured Sony's box office success and that Marvel Studios contributed to that success."
Marvel also alleges that Sony engaged in restraints of trade to protect the interests of affiliates such as Sony Electronics and Sony Interactive. The suit also charges that Sony ignored contractual arrangements that protected Marvels' ongoing licensing by failing to market movie merchandise only during limited "windows" and by ignoring Marvel's "tie-breaker" rights when disagreements arose over merchandise licenses.
"We allege that Sony has hijacked Spider-Man to promote and merchandise other less popular characters," Handler said. "Spider-Man is one of the brightest stars in the Marvel universe. Disregard of Marvel's intellectual property rights by a major studio cannot be condoned."
According to Marvel, if the License Agreement between Sony and Marvel is cancelled, Sony will lose the right to make movies based on Spider-Man after Spider-Man 2.
Judge Williams deferred any ruling on Sony's motion to refer the dispute to a private judge within the auspices of the court system until more information was placed before the Court.
JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED UPDATE
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DC Comics and Sargento have launch a yearlong ustice League promotion featuring the characters as part of a fully integrated on-package, online and retail merchandising effort on select non-refrigerated and refrigerated Cheese Snacks.
The on-package effort features the Justice League characters on all seven packages of non-refrigerated Cheese Snacks, including Cheeze and Crackers, Cheeze and Pretzels, S'mores, Cheddar and Sticks, Cheeze and Sticks, Strawberry and Sprinkles and Chocolately Chip, as well as on eight SKUs of refrigerated Cheese Snacks, such as mozarrella, colby jack, twists and string cheese.
The package will also announce a compelling special offer for a free Justice League hat, a $12-value custom hat being produced only for Sargento Snacks.
More than 7,000 free-standing displays in major grocery retailers nationwide will support the strong retail merchandising campaign for this program.
In other Justice League news, the show is pulling in solid ratings in it new time period. In its first week at 10 p.m. (Monday-Thursday), Justice League was the highest-rated program on cable in its time period with Kids 2-11, Boys 2-11, Kids 6-11 and Boys 6-11.
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X-MEN: EVOLUTION, STATIC SHOCK SCHEDULING
Kids' WB! has announced a week of repeats when X-Men: Evolution returns next week from its hiatus.
X-Men: Evolution will air weekdays at 3:30 p.m. (ET) next week. Episodes scheduled will include "The Stuff of Heroes" on Monday, "Blind Alley" on Tuesday, "X-Treme Measures" on Wednesday, "Self Possessed" on Thursday and "Under Lock & Key" on Friday.
It's likely the remaining four new episodes from the third season now will be held for the show's fourth, although network representatives could not confirm that.
The network also announced that two episodes of Static Shock will air on Saturday, May 3: "Hard as Nails," guest-starring Batman, at 9:30 a.m. and "Toys in the Hood," a new episode guest-starring Superman at 10:30 a.m.
BRIEFLY
Set in the mid-80s, Declassified focuses on Paul Crocker as a young secret agent about to learn some of the hard lessons that will make him a lifer in the spy business. The book will cost $8.95.
Copyright © 2003, The Comics Continuum