Disney bought Marvel in 2009 for $4 billion to gain the rights to produce Marvel films. Major films produced from this purchase like The Avengers and Iron Man 3 have grossed over $2.5 billion combined. However, Disney will face challenges creating a monopoly as other studios like Sony and 20th Century Fox had previously acquired rights to some top Marvel properties like Spiderman and X-Men. This large acquisition impacts the film industry by influencing competitors and creating new opportunities, but cultural differences between Disney and Marvel may impact appeal to key audiences.

1. Walt Disney buying Marvel
Disney bought Marvel in December 2009 for $4bn (£2.5bn)
in cash and stock as a subsidiary to the Disney empire.

2. In Detail
When Disney bought Marvel they also bought the rights to produce certain films. “Marvel’s The
Avengers” was just one of the films they bought which turned out to be the top-grossing film
last year, with $1.5 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo, an industry
researcher. “Iron Man 3” leads this year with $1.2 billion in worldwide box office which was also
purchased by Disney from Marvel. Disney have tried to create an monopoly here by buying the
films off Marvel trying to own all the comic action movies. However Warner Brothers (Disney's
main rivals) purchased DC comics (Marvels main rivals) allowing them to make DC comic book
action movies. Another reason why Disney will find it hard to create a monopoly in this field is
Marvel had already sold the rights to some of there best selling comics such as Spiderman to
Sony in a long term agreement, 21st Century Fox has made the “X-Men” and “Wolverine” films
under a similar arrangement.

3. Market impact
This purchase will definitely have an impact on the other major film companies. This purchase
has given Disney lots of new opportunities and clearly been very profitable for their company.
Other major film companies will be influenced by this as they may make more actions movies or
even try to close a deal with a comic company themselves.

4. Main Issues
One of the main issues I have already talked about is that Disney will not be able to own rights
to all the Marvel comics. With Sony owning Spiderman and 20th Century Fox owning X-men (two
of Marvels best selling and most famous comics) Disney will find it hard to keep up with other
companies versions of Marvel films.
Another main issue with this deal is that Disney in the past have be famous for their family
loving cartoon movies. Marvel however are famous for their violence action packed comic books
with a mainly male audience. Therefore Disney in some peoples opinion might not have been
the best choice of people to make their movies as they have little experience in the action
movie field.
One other main issue with Disney's company is that they have always found it hard to appeal to
young male audiences whereas Marvels main audience is young males. This could be seen as a
positive or negative for Disney, on one hand this will clearly increase Disney's male audience, on
the other hand Disney as I have said briefly before may not be able to appeal to this audience as
well as other companies with more experience in approaching this audience.

5. Summaries
I have learnt that ownership of franchises in the film industries is a big market which I previously
didn’t know too much about. I didn’t know there was so much money in simply selling stories
and characters to another company without even producing the film themselves. This made me
realize how much competition there is in the film industry and the importance of well known
characters and stories. I also learnt about how one company purchasing another can result in
big company rivalries even in subsidiary's of the company’s.

6. FUNDING AND THE FILM INDUSTRY.
TV screenings
corporate investment
ticket sales
product placement
DVD sales
How the film industry make money
private investment
sponsorship
merchandise
development funds

7. Product Placement
Product placement is when a movie uses another
companies product in their movie as advertising. But
this wouldn't happen like an advert you would see
on television instead the product would be used or
seen in the film and would make sense in terms of
the story. Companies will pay large amounts of
money to get their products used in big movies as
this is a large scale form of advertising.
Back to the future used more product placement
than any other film. Throughout Back To The Future
film we see Nike trainers, Pepsi cans, Mc Donald's
signs and many more famous companies branding.

8. The avengers assembly
The Avengers Assemble was sponsored by Apple to use their products in the new film. In
the film we don't see the superheroes using Apple products instead we see the civilians
and average people on the street using them. By doing this Apple wanted to show that
their products would be used in the future (as The Avengers Assemble is set in the
future) making the audience want to purchase their products in the future. Another way
Apple used product placement in The Avengers Assemble is through noise and the
sounds in the film. When Iron Man moved or performed special moves in the film we
heard noise that you would commonly hear when using Apple products making the
audience make a connection with future technology and their brand.

9. How Independent film companies get their funding
There are many ways in which an independent film company can get funding for their
films such as the UK film council, Local Councils, Charities, Production Schemes &
Competitions. The UK film council would be the first place to look for funding for an
independent film company, they were set up by the government in 2000 and are
funded by sources such as the national lottery. Local councils may also give funding to
independent film companies to increase film making in their local area. Charities
could also supply an independent film company with funding especially if their charity
is involved in the film. Film makers could also enter competitions where funding and
equipment could be rewarded if won.

10. Sponsorship deals
The Smurfs 2 made £95 million through sponsorship deals before the movie even came out
in cinemas. They did this buy getting sponsors from a wide range of companies such as
McDonalds, Haribo to Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. These companies didn't sell the DVD or
tickets to the film they just sold the toys for the Smurfs 2 movie. These companies would
have bought the rights to sell the official Smurfs 2 toys and products. McDonalds would have
sold their toys in their happy meals, Toys R Us and Wal-Mart would have sold their toys in
their stores and Haribo may have used the Smurf characters on front of their sweet packets.
All of these would have increased sales for these retailers and products as people will be
excited about the movie and want to buy related products. However Smurfs 2 will also
benefit from this as when people see and buy the Smurfs 2 products they will think about
and want to go and see the movie.