April 28, 2005
Stan Lee's Marvel-ous Settlement
SOURCE: E! Online by Josh Grossberg
Stan Lee's Spidey cents are tingling big time.
The 82-year-old comic-book mastermind has engineered a massive settlement with Marvel Enterprises that brings an end to a $10 million lawsuit in which Lee accused the company of shutting him out of unpaid profits stemming from the big-screen success of his famed webslinger and other Marvel Comics-based films.
The suit, filed in November 2002 in U.S. District Court, contended that Lee's deal with the company gave the him a share of the earnings generated from films and TV shows featuring Marvel's comic creations.
In January, a judge ruled in Lee's favor, declaring that he was entitled to a 10 percent stake in all of Marvel's profits since November 1998. That's not chump change, considering the two Spider-Man movies alone generated upwards of $100 million in total revenue for the company.
Marvel initially appealed the decision, but in the end decided to pay up.
No word exactly how much cash Marvel will be shelling out. But on Thursday, the media giant reported that profits for the first quarter of this year would take a hit thanks to a $10 million one-time charge "for the successful resolution of all past and future payments claimed by Mr. Lee to be due under an agreement with Marvel."
"Stan is one of the founders of today's comic book industry," said Marvel attorney, John Turitzin, in a statement. "We are pleased with the settlement and are happy to have resolved all of our disputes with him."
Reps for Lee could not immediately be reached for comment.
Lee has previously said victory would be bittersweet, considering his key role in making Marvel the powerhouse it is today.
Stan the Man began his comic book career in 1939 at age 17 as an errand boy for publisher Martin Goodman. He served as writer, editor, art director, head writer and publisher for Marvel in the 1960s before retiring from active duty and becoming chairman emeritus.
Along the way, he gave birth to a slew of superheros, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, X-Men and Daredevil, which not only became pop-culture icons, but also have proven to be superhuman at the box office.
Marvel has grown into a veritable Hollywood machine in the past decade, with Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, X-Men, X2, Hulk, Daredevil and Elektra grossing a combined $2.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales. And more is on the way with Spider-Man 3 and X-Men 3 now in preproduction, and the long-awaited movie adaptation of the Fantastic Four due out in July. Another classic character, Iron Man, is also in the works at New Line Cinema.
With litigation in the Lee case over, Marvel is now aiming to boost its bottom line. The company sealed a deal with Paramount Pictures that will see the studio distribute a slate of films and provide up to $525 million in financing for the flicks Marvel produces. It also allows the company to build its own film library.
Posted by MK Magazine at April 28, 2005 06:07 PM