Deadpool/Wolverine : Promotion & Publicity

[jo]

This is interesting --

if you look at the Website of WME...and then at a specific section called Our Story --

www.wmeagency.com/story/

you will see a mention of Patrick Whitesell who joined the group in Year 2000 and brought his expertise in motion picture with him-- and in the same cluster, there is a photo of Hugh Jackman as among the clients he brought with him. That was the year when the first XMen movies was released. What I remember was he also saw Hugh in Oklahoma!...and eventually brought him along when he moved from his old agency.

Most underestimate the size and depth of services of WME --

Here is a page on what they do --

www.wmeagency.com/expertise/



Jo

[jo]

Now it is time for the battle with Jimmy Kimmel.

[jo]

Not sure what is Emilyfest...

and not sure if Hugh Jackman is included to promote DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE ??

[jo]

Mar 24, 2024 20:42:23 GMT -5 jo said:

Not sure what is Emilyfest...

and not sure if Hugh Jackman is included to promote DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE ??


Or is this just a collection of music that can be heard on SPOTIFY?

[jo]

From Variety --

Disney Foe Nelson Peltz Questions ‘Woke’ Marvel Films: ‘Why Do I Have to Have a Marvel [Movie] That’s All Women? Why Do I Need an All-Black Cast?’

By Todd Spangler

Plus Icon
Nelson Peltz Captain Marvel Black Panther
Getty / Marvel Studios

Nelson Peltz, the activist investor agitating to win two Disney board seats, criticized the company’s “woke” strategy — specifically questioning Marvel’s “Black Panther” and “The Marvels,” which featured Black and women leads, respectively.

The 81-year-old Peltz, who has admitted he “never claimed” to have experience in the media business, made the comments about “The Marvels” and “Black Panther” in a recent interview with the Financial Times. “Why do I have to have a Marvel [movie] that’s all women?” Peltz asked rhetorically. “Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can’t I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-Black cast?”

“Black Panther” does not have an all-Black cast, nor does “The Marvels” have an all-female cast.

“Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman, was a bona fide blockbuster, reaping $1.35 billion at the worldwide box office, while 2023’s “The Marvels” was a flop with a $206 million total haul. (The earlier 2019 “Captain Marvel” starring Brie Larson in the title role grossed $1.13 billion.)



Iger, speaking last fall at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, acknowledged that Disney productions should focus on storytelling rather than advocating particular agendas. “Creators lost sight of what their No. 1 objective needed to be. We have to entertain first. It’s not about messages,” Iger said. On that point, Peltz said in the FT interview, “People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained. They don’t go to get a message.”


Disney has framed the proxy-vote campaign by Peltz’s Trian Partners as driven by a “longstanding personal agenda” harbored by former Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter against Iger. Trian controls roughly $3.5 billion worth of Disney stock, 79% of which is owned by Perlmutter. Last year, Disney terminated Perlmutter’s employment.


As Marvel chairman, Perlmutter famously fought Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige over making “Black Panther” and “Captain Marvel” — on the belief that movies with Black or women lead characters would not be commercially successful — until Iger intervened to overruled Perlmutter.


In his 2019 memoir “The Ride of a Lifetime,” Iger described “the tensions that had built up” between Feige “and the New York office” (i.e., Perlmutter). “We had a chance to make a great movie and to showcase an underrepresented segment of America, and those goals were not mutually exclusive,” Iger wrote. “I called Ike and told him to tell his team to stop putting up roadblocks and ordered that we put both ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ into production.”



Peltz, asked during the FT interview if Feige should be removed as president of Marvel Studios, replied, “I’m not ready to say that, but I question his record.”

In a new statement Monday, Peltz’s Trian claimed it “supports Mr. Iger as a candidate for the board and as CEO,” and asserted that its goal was to replace certain Disney board members with new blood. However, Trian withheld its votes for Iger’s reelection to the Disney board.

Is it Feige who is advocating pure DEI ?!!

Or is he just being a mouthpiece for Bob Iger? Why are Iger & Feige so consumed by the need "to showcase an underrepresented segment of America"?? What if the story does not make sense??

I dare them to cast a film like South Pacific and not follow the logical racial identification --

*You cannot cast the role of Bloody Mary with a Caucasian woman because it will be contrary to the racial conflict between her daughter and the Caucasian lieutenant.
*You cannot cast the lieutenant as a POC because he delivers one of the strongest songs " Carefully Taught", a paean against racism that he grew up with .
*You cannot cast Nellie Forbush as POC because she had initial misgivings about the possibility of becoming stepmother to two POC kids.

On stage, they mix ther casting for experimental purposes ( not always succeeding) or they have a limited number of available cast members.

Somebody blocked me and labelled me brain-dead because of my post -- the party is not thinking! If it happens, it would likely only be for convenience ( lack of cast members). Opportunities for job seekers should not govern casting rules, otherwise it is not the best choice.

Like a white Michael Jackson. No
A Black Wolverine - not comicbook-true...but can be experimented with.

Jo

[suefb]

Mar 24, 2024 20:46:04 GMT -5 jo said:

Mar 24, 2024 20:42:23 GMT -5 jo said:

Not sure what is Emilyfest...

and not sure if Hugh Jackman is included to promote DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE ??


Or is this just a collection of music that can be heard on SPOTIFY?

Instafest is an app that allows Spotify users to conjure up an imaginary music festival based on their listening habits. "EmilyFest" was posted by somebody named Emily.  

[suefb]

Mar 24, 2024 20:37:12 GMT -5 jo said:

Now it is time for the battle with Jimmy Kimmel.

Once again, Mike Zeroh is a completely unreliable source. 

[suefb]

A reaction to Peltz's (frankly ugly) comments from the rival financial firm that is working to maintain control of Disney.

www.thewrap.com/blackwells-capital-slams-nelson-peltz-disturbing-statements-the-marvels-black-panther/

[jo]

Peltz is not a rival firm. He is a billionaire who is known to be an activist in corporate affairs by trying to become a representative in a company he targets. In the corporate world, there are many of these types.

Personally, while DEI has good intentions, I do not agree that it should be insisted at ALL costs. The same thing is now happening at AMPAS, too - look at some recent winners -- does it still reflect true artistic excellence or simpl a political statement? The case for the win of Emma Stone over the other high contender was however hailed as the right artistic judgment and not just another WOKE vote had the other actress won?

I am surprised that Zeroh is allowed to make all those comments as an influencer and Disney not making any legal threats. No matter how he is regarded, I find his observations to seem to have some veracity. Given the Disney shareholder fights, there seems to be some truth to what is happening, especially in the light of Iger & maybe Feige's DEI intentions.

We'll see.

Jo


PS: If you follow the corporate fight over Disney's Board representation -- here is Hollywood Reporter's report on the major group supporting a more activist board at Disney --

www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-proxy-fight-iss-backs-peltz-1235857258/

[jo]

MCU Film News
@mcufilmnews
It's highly unlikely that any actor appearing as Wolverine Variant in 'DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE' would also play the MCU Wolverine.

(Source: thecosmiccircus.com/alex-perez-qa-march-2024/)

Lol - so many rumors as to the many, many cameos in the movie.

But the ones that have captured some attention is the guessing games as to whether one of the supposed Wolverine variants will be the MCU Wolverine.

Who knows? Maybe we will have a future Lady Wolverine in the MCU- but not X-23/Laura

Laura would have been a good one -- but it is not feasible without touching consistency issues with Logan. If Wolverine was supposed to have died while Laura was only a young teenager -- how can Deadpool&Wolverine feature her in a cameo, as this new movie is supposed to have a storyline that pre-dates Logan?

Well of course in comicbook lore & and even in some comic book film adaptations, anything is possible

Jo

[jo]

Ryan at it again - their famous feud

[suefb]

Peltz is WITH rival firm Trian. But this whole business interests me little. All I see is an asshole who seems to represent the anti-Disney views of Governor Ron DeSantis.

Even if you think DEI rules go too far in Hollywood, I'm sure you must agree that the intention of encouraging more equitable opportunities for traditionally under-represented groups is a positive step. Some rich jerk in his 80s saying there's "no need" to make movies with female or BIPOC leads should go back to the stone ages because he lives under a rock.

Emma Stone deserved to win because she was in just about every scene of Poor Things, which was an awards season darling. Killers of the Flower Moon was also an excellent film, which was made better, I'd say, because Scorsese decided to switch the focus from the FBI investigation (which was the central storyline in the book and early scripts) to the trauma inflicted on the Osage people. Lily Gladstone depicted that trauma with believable grace and won many well deserved awards for her portrayal.

[suefb]

And Zeroh can say anything he wants. It's not worth Disney's time to sue him, plus they'd probably lose. If you Google anything about his reputation, he is widely considered to be utter trash.

[suefb]

[jo]

DEI started well -- but it should not be taken too far that casting becomes more of a political statement than best suitability for a role.

In any situation, a usually moderate and more centrist view works well in general. Of course culture is also changing. It is now almost matter-of-fact that certain castings are generally accepted ( such as the revival that defeated The Music Man -- Company, with its gender-bending casting...which also had the sentimental advantage of the recent passing of its creator, Sondheim). Whether the Tony win by the Michael Jackson-copycat is more deserved than the Hugh Jackman Harold Hill interpretation is also debatable... but that is now and the present entertainment landscape. But the rumors of a female Magneto defeating Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in the third act of "Deadpool & Wolverine" if the Iger/Feige DEI push wins -- hmmm... that would turn me off personally. If the rumors are true

While researching on the current rumors, I discovered that Iger had an interesting professional background, wondering whether it would explain his broad and deep support of certain social issues. I learned that his first job was as weatherman for a TV program. Of course, he has gone a long way, now pushing for a certain type of cultural weather winds.

Re activist shareholders - they may not make it to board level, but they do make interesting participants in the corporate scene as they keep the insitution's leadership on their toes. Sometimes they can be pesky but they can also influence positive decisions. Many Wall Street stories on this type of stockholder/shareholder fights.

I do have practical experience in dealing with awkward questions with people who question corporate directions --

*When I was working, I did make 2 presentations to fund managers in a big meeting of about 70 worldwide companies at a major London venue. It was not just the formal session which drew all kinds of questions about the corporate past but also the corporate future given that those years were some of business's most difficult crisis years. And if some were more curious than others, there were requests for one-on-one sessions if they want to ( I had a few of those) and most wanting a copy of your paper ( to deal with when making their decisions whether to invest on a short term basis with your company or not - in our case, a major bank). Sometimes the meetings would be in our own country when fund managers congregrate for specific company presentations. I almost went on an infamous international road trip with a top team and as organized by the defunct USA Wall Street firm Meryll Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith on a trip from Asia to Europe to the USA that would have covered many companies interested in an investment banking offer -- and we thought we would live in a suitcase because of the non-stop nature of the trip ( covering so many companies in 2 weeks).

*I was also the bank representative for all calls made by fund managers ( from all kinds of countries - whether speaking with an Americn, British, Australian or Chinese accents) and had to field all sorts of questions about the institution. Same is true with dealing with credit-rating institutions like Moodys/Standard&Poor, and even the IMF credit-granting institution The World Bank ( the fussiest!).

But it made me and my staff more prepared -- and to be anticipatory about the possible questions and issues. Prior to my London trips, I had to be well-versed on all aspects of our operations & directions, including the political situation in the country and how it would affect us.

And if one is a listed company at the stock exchange - just like Disney - one has to anticipate the questions pushed forth by these short-term investors and business media on your corporate performance. That is why I understand why some companies would try to even out performance even on a quarter to quarter basis, believing that on a yearly basis, it would constitute the same performance but on a more normal operating cycle.

In our case, it was not DEI - -it is how we distributed our assets (loans - whether to corporate/medium-sized/small-sized loans/ short-term securities/longterm securities, other investments vis-a-vis our funding base ( deposits/borrowings & capital), our corporate policy on our people - who we hire and what we do to enhance performance ( it is not always the equivalent of DEI as certain jobs require certain backgrounds), etc...

Very enriching experience but something I can only look back with a smile - whew!

I did meet many interesting people and accents


Jo

[jo]

On another aside --

there were rumors that Pirates of the Caribbean will have another sequel but this time with a female lead (with Margot Robbie) and maybe pirate Johnny Depp in a supporting role.

That is a feasible idea ( and in the past, there were supposed to be female pirates)...but it seems it may not happen as projected - a strong backlash from the Depp fans.

It looks like now that a reboot will be done - maybe a completely different rethink of the story and the characters?

Discussions are fair when new possibilities are offered ... but it is even more welcome news that a rethink happens when strong objections are registered... and hopes for a better new film are discussed.

Jo

[jo]

[suefb]

Anti-DEI (aka "Anti-Woke") is not a centrist idea, and it involves far more than just Hollywood. It's basically a repudiation of societal attempts to lift marginalized groups and provide equitable opportunities for all. It's a "softer" way for those on the far right to support white supremacist and patriarchical ideals, and that's all I have to say about it.

[jo]

We all have personal ideas of how we want to view how people treat each other, also reflecting on how entertainment may be presented that is generally acceptable.

The first XMen movie was one good example of rough DEI - where some marginalized persons (because they were different) congregate to see how they can change the world. That was a far more acceptable way to project the concept, which of course, has become even more practiced now. But there can be times when the concept can be over-extended.

I guess our views can also be influenced by where we live. It seems that in the USA, this is a very serious issue in terms of how it is implemented. Each society looks at its ideals and how the level of living can be changed to reach those ideals.

Les Miserables was a very strong effort, literature-wise, of presenting the plight of people who were marginalized, rights-wise & living standards-wise ( in France, in particular). It is not a new concept... maybe even much earlier in the history of man ( such as the magna carta). Each country will likely set up the ideals that best fit its society. In our case, we have granted political autonomy to our large Muslim community, but still within the framework of liberties and rights in our republic (and we are a country which is 80% Roman Catholic). How it works in other countries depends on its people's advocacies and societal goals

It is a sensitive issue so it should be presented as a good concept in the best possible way -- not rammed down the throats.

To each his own.

Jo

[suefb]

Yes of course I'm talking about the USA, which is where Disney and Hollywood and everything you've been talking about here are based. You are naive if you think it's not an issue that is used to rile people up and get them to believe that any social equity efforts are the root of all their problems by claiming it's being "shoved down people's throats".

Did you appreciate the Oscars this year! I thought they were great. It was nice that there were no complaints about #oscarsowhite this year. Because they weren't! But that wasn't an accident - it came about over the last several years through a concerted effort to diversify the academy membership and provide support for differing creative visions. And yet there was still room to recognize excellence from all corners.

The film business is absolutely at a challenging point after the disruption of the pandemic on cinema-going habits and the new technologies like streaming and AI which are threatening the business model and the creative process. Do you know what is NOT considered by most people to be a big problem threatening the livelihood of the movie industry? DEI.

[jo]

Oh I have seen some social media messages linking them to political motives.

Yes, I was glad that the Oscars this year seemed to be a more balanced awarding of artistry.

For a while, it broadened the membership too fast ( of course I am glad that they have included people from my country, such as the Cannes-winning director BMendoza, but it should have not have accelerated the opening of membership in the way it was done. It would have been nice if more accomplished artists from all over the world were gradually included. But that is a point of view which I do not impose but say is preferable to me.

I have tried to cover the changing film business - if you had the time, I have shared many articles under OFF-TOPIC-Understanding the Film Business -- re changes impacting not just the film business but how entertainment has changed. It is always good to appreciate the changing environment in which artistic and creative endeavors are changing or being re-shaped.

A new development - in Florida, they will soon be banning 14 yrs & below from owning social media accounts. That will be less people giving their fan reviews from that age level. Superhero movies are generally PG-13 -- so, there will be less fanboy exchanges. Will other places follow suit -- of course it is not just entertainment that could be affected -- some say it could lessen mental health issues to some extent?

But movies in Hollywood are not meant for the USA alone. International markets comprise a hefty %, especially for blockbusters. So, maybe Hollywood is also trying to fit in their productions to suit the culture and mores of the international market.

Did you know that Deadpool & Wolverine is actually a co-production with a film outfit in China? But movies aired in China may be subjected to different set of rules and are likely edited accordingly.

As they say, we live in interesting times! (Chinese quote).


Jo

[jo]

I did not realize that over the years I have shared some 15 Pages on this forum of relevant articles to

"Understanding the Film Business".

And interestingly, the last shared article is a Hollywood Reporter report on Bob Iger's filmmaking push currently --

Mar 5, 2024 20:45:36 GMT -5 jo said:

From The Hollywood Reporter --

Bob Iger Pushes Back on Marvel Fatigue, but Says Disney Quietly Canceled Movies

The Disney CEO was interviewed at a Morgan Stanley conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, where he called the Nelson Peltz-led proxy fight a "distraction" for the company.


BY ALEX WEPRIN

Plus Icon

MARCH 5, 2024 11:13AM
Bob Iger
Disney CEO Bob Iger VALERIE MACON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Disney CEO Bob Iger is pursuing a major overhaul of the company’s film output.

In the midst of something of a strike-induced box office drought and after a challenging year for Disney’s film slate, the executive said Tuesday that “we’re doing a lot” to turn around Disney’s feature film business, which “hit on hard times that needed addressing.”

Iger, speaking at a conference hosted by Morgan Stanley in San Francisco on Tuesday, was pressed about what he is doing to turn the film business around.


“You have to kill things you no longer believe in, and that’s not easy in this business, because either you’ve gotten started, you have some sunk costs, or it’s a relationship with either your employees or with the creative community,” Iger said. “It’s not an easy thing, but you got to make those tough calls. We’ve actually made those tough calls. We’ve not been that public about it, but we’ve killed a few projects already that we just didn’t feel were strong enough.”

Iger added that he has been “spending a lot of time with the creators, watching these films, giving detailed notes in these films, engaging in a respectful process that results in improvement.”

And he pushed back on the idea of superhero or franchise fatigue, saying that it was “not an accident” that Marvel’s first 33 films generated just under $30 billion at the box office.

“A lot of people think it’s audience fatigue, it’s not audience fatigue. They want great films. And if you build it great, they will come and there are countless examples of that. Some are ours and some are others’. Oppenheimer is a perfect example of that. Just a fantastic film,” Iger said. “Focus is really important. We reduced the output of Marvel, both number of films they make and the number of TV shows, and that really becomes critical, but I feel good about the team. I feel good about the IP we’re making. I talked about a lot of the projects. We look years ahead, really. And it’s iterative.

“Not only do you look at the films you’re making, you you look at every part of that process, who the directors are, who’s being cast, reading scripts, I personally watch films three to five times with the team and just create a culture of excellence and respect, which is really important with the creative community,” he added. “And again, the track record speaks for itself.”

On a related note, Iger also touted Disney’s 2024 film slate, calling the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes “one of the better films in the franchise,” the upcoming Inside Out and Moana sequels, and also the big Marvel release of the year, Deadpool & Wolverine, which Iger predicted “will be one of the more successful Marvel movies we’ve had in a long time.”

Iger’s comments come amid a pivotal moment for Disney, with a pair of activist shareholders — Nelson Peltz’s Trian and Blackwells Capital — each seeking board seats.

During Disney’s last earnings call, Iger announced a slew of projects and deals hoping to push back against the activists, including a partnership and $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games that will bring Disney franchise IP to the Fortnite universe; a surprise Moana sequel, which will hit theaters this year; a deal to bring Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie to Disney+ next month; and a fall 2025 launch date for ESPN’s direct-to-consumer flagship service.

At the Morgan Stanley conference, Iger said that “this campaign is, in a way, designed to distract us, to take our eye off all those balls that we talked about.

“It’s that simple. And I am working really hard to not let this distract me,” he added. “Because when I get distracted, everybody who works for me gets distracted. And that’s not a good thing.”

Jo

[jo]

On a quarterly basis, there is a so-called "earnings call" on listed companies.

It is a good way to keep tabs of current developments & also future projections, hence Bob Iger is someone of interest now because of what has happened to Marvel Studios in 2023 and also because that drew a response from its activist-shareholders.

What he is trying to rationalize is why he recommended the purchase of FOX creative assets at such a high price -- and yet he has not shown much of its rich library vault AND has seemingly wasted the creative & production talent available (like Emma Watts -Production Head & another guy who was head of Marketing have dispersed on their own). It seems he wanted the rich library and future film prospects to help his favored streaming business. But the expectations of level of sign-ups for streaming did not come, as expected or hoped for. And Netflix is giving frontrunner competition not only because of their access to film rights but they have also become a major factor in creating content! Plus major conglomerates like Apple & Amazon are becoming part of the competition for screening & for content creation. That is why salaries for actors who do films for them are amazingly high. Adam Chandler was the highest paid actor in 2023 due to his deals with Netflix. This runs contrary to what Iger is doing in pushing his cost reduction agenda (including reducing pay grades of talent) to raise Disney profitability, as competition has become very strong. That has been questioned among his accountabilities.

One of Disney's recent bids was to pay $ 75 Million for the Taylor Swift concerts. This was the same amount they paid for Hamilton. Will both bear net profitability? So many conflicting factors that now determine short-term & long-term profitability. One of Disney's accomplishments was the years of MCU profitability (Infinity Wars), except for the 2023 failed year. Instead of pushing certain agendas, maybe they should focus on how they can build another strong revenue source (Avengers series?) from films.


The Deadpool series is an inherited film franchise and there was so much excitement because the return of Hugh Jackman made the third film of the series seem financially feasible. Now, there are all sorts of rumors on why a fairly lengthy reshoots is contemplated ( from sometime in April to May). I am hoping these will be resolved for the better.

It is indeed a changing business!

Jo

[suefb]

Mar 26, 2024 13:42:46 GMT -5 jo said:

Oh I have seen some social media messages linking them to political motives.

It's quite commonplace. The tweet below is from a candidate for congress, blaming - with absolutely no factual basis - today's tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore on .... what? "DEI". So to put a period on this, I'm simply informing you that your quite interesting perspective on DEI in the film business could give the impression that you also support folks (perhaps including the likes of Nelson Peltz and Mike Zeroh) who have weaponized that term politically here in the US by claiming that it is an "anti-white" policy. 

[jo]

Lol - I do not support far-right nor far-left. I like a moderate or a more centrist approach. So, do not assign motives to me

Politically, let me share with you that I marched with millions on our famous People Power revolution here in the Philippines to oust a dictator many decades ago - not caring if we got bombed or shot -- so long as we can voice our political voice on the election results that we felt was cheated from us. So, do not assign political colors, hey?

As I have said earlier my work experience included meeting a lot of these activist-types, although in my case more of shrewd- shortterm investors trying to poke at a company's weaknesses. I do have an MBA and it is very interesting experience dealing with people that we have discussed in classroom business cases.

Yes, I saw that reference -- that maybe the boat pilot was a DEI hire? Nobody knows. But that was a very tragic & horrible accident. Like an airplane tragedy, it could be pilot error or the ship itself gone awry. What I also found interesting was there were no police to be called because they supposedly defunded the police in Baltimore - is that true?

Well, in the final analysis, what I want to do is to support Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds & Shawn Levy in their hopes to bring to movie audiences a great movie that would rationalize this next film in the Deadpool series and to please those who wanted to see the return of Hugh in his career-defining role!

Let's call it quits now -- you seem to be getting personal. Cheers!