Hey folks, Harry here. David Poland, decided to speak from his butt cheeks today about a subject he really doesn't know anything about. And claims that the 'online streaming media content' just could not be a reason to scuttle film deals of these size. Specifically talking about DAREDEVIL and DR. STRANGE. And... from his uninformed point of view... it really doesn't make any sense. BUT... from the point of view of Avi Arad, it does make sense. You see Mr Poland, were you familiar with the actual landscape of superhero properties and the current machinations and politics that are currently being waged, you would know that the recent explosion that hit Marvel's pride was none other than the online traffic barrage caused by STAN LEE MEDIA and how Stan is currently working on BUYING Marvel Comics and taking it over from those that have... in my opinion... been running it into the ground for years. Poland also likes to pretend to know where I get information without ever calling or contacting me. Using the word 'talent' like a bad word. However, on this story, I have suits at Marvel, Sony and even some folks I've talked to at other companies talk to me about the current Marvel anxieties. The following spy, named Art Crumb is right in the midst of the maelstorm at Marvel... shoulder tapping distance from Avi. And this is why and how the DAREDEVIL and DR STRANGE deals turned belly up...
Avi Arad is going nuts about Stan Lee Media's recent successful launch of the 7th Portal animated webisodes, but really is going nuclear about how Stan has told Time and Dow Jones reporters that he wants to buy Marvel Comics. A few years ago, a certain one-gloved former king of pop tried to buy Marvel, tendering a $500 million offer. Marvel's executives turned him down, saying they wanted $1 billion.
Well, with SLM's market cap expected to approach $500 million later this year, Stan is wanting to put in a bid for Marvel... with Michael Jackson as his partner. Jackson spent three hours in SLM's studio in LA about a week before the Feb. 29th gala, and was blown away by it.
So, back to Avi Arad -- it's imperative to Avi that he prove to his board of directors that Marvel won't be outdone online by Stan Lee Media. After all, Marvel has been online for years and hasn't even come close to matching the traffic Stan is driving. SLM is an embarrassment to Avi and to Marvel, and Avi's ass is on the line.
After the Time Magazine piece ran, with Stan talking about buying Marvel, Marvel called an emergency meeting of the board of directors, screaming about how they have the characters, they have the movies coming out -- why can't they get Time to talk to THEM?
Bottom line -- It will be a race to see who goes down first -- Avi, because he's doing bad business, or Marvel, because they won't fire Avi.
Best --
Art Crumb
