UPDATE: Sony May Part With SPIDER-MAN Movie Rights; Will Peter Parker Join The MCU?
We've known for a while now that Sony has been having some financial problems, but a new report seemingly indicates that the studio may be considering selling off some of their movie franchises. Could this lead to a return to Marvel Studios for Spider-Man?
Comic Book Therapy points to a report which seemingly indicates that Sony are considering a proposal from investor Daniel Loeb and his hedge fund company Third Point. What proposal? Well, they've been struggling financially for quite some time now and while they're not exactly going to go bust anytime soon, they may be forced to sell some assets in order to both save and make some money. Loeb has suggested that they sell some of their entertainment properties, including the Resident Evil and Spider-Man franchises. Sony Chief executive Kazuo Hirai has confirmed to investors that they are indeed considering this proposal in order for them to focus on their electronics division. "Third Point’s proposal involves the way we manage a core business of the Sony group and the direction of our management. So the Sony board will give it thorough consideration before replying to Mr Loeb." Whether this actually happens remains to be seen, especially as it's difficult to imagine them wanting to part with such a prime cash cow. However, if billions were to be offered, it's hard to imagine Sony turning down such a lucrative sum especially if they've decided to get out of the movie biz. Whether this would ultimately mean that Spider-Man finds his way home to Marvel Studios is also unclear at this point, but if this does happen, Disney would surely be interested in taking back Peter Parker!
UPDATE: Just to clear up any confusion in regards to the quote from Hirai above, The Register very clearly states that, "Sony has said that it will consider a proposal from activist investor Daniel Loeb that the group should sell off parts of its music and movies business, which includes popular franchises Spider-Man and Resident Evil and the weepy ballads of Brit crooner Adele." However, it appears as if they got their facts wrong and may have jumped the gun - on closer inspection of the original proposal, these properties are never directly mentioned and it instead seems as if Sony would just create a separate company to deal with their entertainment division, while using public investors in order to help them increase revenue. It's all rather complicated, but the simple version is that we probably should expect to see the wall-crawling superhero stay where he is for the time being. It was a nice thought though, eh?
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