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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2008

HIDDEN GEMS CONFERENCE: MARVEL STUDIOS' DAVID MAISEL

David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, appeared at the Second Annual Hidden Gems Conference at Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on Tuesday.

Following are highlights from his question-and-answer session:

* Asked about how the economy is effecting the studio, Maisel said Marvel has established multi-year financing and "is fine through 2012-ish."

* Maisel said that global box office, particularly international box office, is usually enhanced with sequels as the properties become more familiar with movie audiences.

* Beyond box-office numbers, Maisel said the studio is focused on profitability. He noted that Iron Man was the 21st biggest film in terms of revenue and he expected it to rank even higher in profitability.

* Maisel said it's important for the Marvel films to generate good word-of-mouth -- he cited that for both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk -- for DVD sales.

* Maisel noted that visual effects costs are actually going down, helping the studio with sequel costs. He said Marvel is trying to avoid "sequelitistis," additional costs that plague second and third movies in attempts to simply make them bigger.

* Maisel said Marvel focuses on competition around its release dates, not necessarily genre competition like The Dark Knight.

* Why was Iron Man 2 pushed back one week to May 2, 2010, where it could conflict with the next Narnia film? "We're very confident and excited about making Iron Man 2. And we love that first weekend in May," Maisel said.

* Asked about Spider-Man 4, Maisel said the studio doesn't have control of its release date. "Sony controls that with Spider-Man. I can't comment on that beyond what they've said," Maisel said.

Maisel said he could see a stream of Spider-Man films, though.

Maisel said that contracts with studios differ, and Sony is within the time constraints of a Spider-Man 4 for 2010 or 2011.

Maisel said he thinks there is enough room in summer of 2010 for a slate including Iron Man 2, Spider-Man 4 and Thor.

* Maisel said that the animated television series are mostly for promoting the properties. "We find them valuable for keeping the brands in the consciousness," he said, noting they were also important in international markets.

* Asked about Spider-Man: The Musical, Maisel said it's possible it could expand to multiple companies/productions. "We feel it has the potential to be a global blockbuster," he said.



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