FX Continues To Subsidize Superhero Movies
Author: Stephen Gerding
March 27th, 2008
A week or so back, FX brokered a deal with Marvel for the non-premium cable television rights to Iron Man, Hulk and whatever the next three Marvel movies turn out to be. Yesterday it was announced that Universal’s reached a deal with the cable station as well, and will likely receive at least $100,000,000 for a package of movies including “Wanted” and “Hellboy 2″ with the final total hitting as much as $200 million depending on the various box office grosses. Apparently FX likes to premiere action/adventure flicks before the season premieres of it’s TV series because it provides a nice little ratings bump.
It’s impossible to put a precise license fee on the Universal/FX deal because the final number is directly tied to each picture’s domestic box office performance. FX will pay an average of 11% of the gross U.S. revenue of the movies for a four-year license term, which takes effect about 18 months after the pictures make their debut on HBO in the exclusive pay TV window.
FX will allow Universal to sell a run or two of the titles to a broadcast network within FX’s four-year window. Universal has given FX free video-on-demand rights to the movies for a portion of its license term.
Other titles in the package include “Wanted,” a thriller starring Angelina Jolie as an assassin; “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” directed by Guillermo Del Toro; “Death Race,” with Jason Statham; Judd Apatow comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”; “The Express,” a biopic about the first black athlete to win the Heisman Trophy; “Changeling,” a drama with Jolie helmed by Clint Eastwood; and “Leatherheads,” directed by and starring George Clooney; comedy “Baby Mama,” starring Tina Fey, and the Liv Tyler thriller “The Strangers.”
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