In July 2021, Scarlett Johansson shocked Hollywood with a lawsuit accusing Disney of violating the distribution agreement. Open the window Day and Date on Disney+, a move its lawyers say has slashed its box office (and star pay). As this legal battle continued over the summer, two other Open the window Stakeholders silently sought what they felt was due to them. The comic’s creators spent months with Marvel paying Elena Belova, the character played by Florence Pugh, to appear in the film.
Writer Devin Grayson and artist JG Jones believed they would take home $25,000 for their appearance. Open the window Thanks to the documents, they signed, outlining how much they would get paid for movies, TV shows, video games and dolls with Elena. But when Grayson and Jones, who created Yelena in 1999, finally got paid in November, that $25,000 dropped to around $5,000 with no explanation.
Grayson has spent the past year on a journey to find answers that shed light on how Marvel pays the comic book writers and artists behind the characters that drive the most successful film franchise in history. Those who work with the company describe a labyrinthine system that has creators wondering how Marvel got its numbers.
When he created Yelena, Grayson knew that Marvel would own the character. But like many creators before her, she has signed a contract known as a special character agreement that outlines a payment system initiated by Marvel if Elena appears in other media. The 2007 settlement apparently stated that Grayson would be paid $25,000 for a theatrical appearance, $2,000 for a 30-minute television episode, and $1,000 for a 30-minute or less television episode. For action figures, the contract gave you $5,000 for one figure released in a year, $10,000 for two, or $25,000 for three or more. For video games, a maximum prize pool of $30,000 will be shared among all creators who have characters in the game.
Hidden in the document, however, was language that gave Marvel ample discretion over dramatically lower payouts, language that Grayson and others are talking about. THR This is misleading as $25,000 is clearly listed in the documents.
“It’s like the Editors’ Clearing House Sweepstakes. your could You make $1 million, but you don’t,” says Grayson, who, as a woman in a male-dominated industry, didn’t want to make a fuss when she signed the contract. She was happy to deliver what Marvel promised and is just speaking out. because he thinks the company should do what it told the creators.
After Grayson received $5,000 of the $25,000 promised in November, he, with the help of a lawyer, discussed various ways Marvel could reduce that amount.
For starters, Marvel splits the money between the writer and the artist. So, according to Marvel math, that’s the most Grayson could do. Open the window There is a $12,500 – $25,000 half-pot split with Jones, Elena’s co-creator. Also, if the movie features more than one character covered by a special character deal, the company will split the money among all the game’s creators. In other words, they told him, $25,000 Open the window It will be shared with all stakeholders, presumably behind the likes of Red Guardian (like David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weiss). A Marvel source notes that there is no cap on the total amount paid to creators for the project, and it can increase depending on what is deemed fair. With that in mind, he reportedly paid over $25,000 to the artists and writers who claimed him. Open the window.
Reached THRJones did not share the details of his payments, but confirmed that he received the same amount of money as Grayson. He says: “After talking to some creators, Marvel’s financial offers seem a little misleading. They throw away a huge amount and then slowly reduce the real salary.”
Another way to reduce Marvel payouts is to classify some movie appearances as “cameos”. According to sources, if a character appears for less than 15% of screen time, it is considered a cameo and therefore creators are paid less. By that standard, Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier is a key character. captain america civil war, will be considered a special participation; It appeared in 22 minutes (just under 15%) of its 2 hour, 28 minute runtime. Same for Captain America, who appeared for less than 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Avengers: Infinity War.
One potential money saver for Marvel is the world of video games, which take over the box office in terms of entertainment market share each year. According to sources, Marvel will only pay creators for characters that appear in console games, not mobile games, a segment of game viewers is growing rapidly, with one source comparing it to VHS royalties in the Blu-ray era. . be the dominant force.
for some who spoke THR Let’s just say it’s more profitable for a creator to avoid signing any paperwork with Marvel, noting that special character deals allow the company to essentially pay what they want and include an NDA clause that prevents creators from speaking up. One source, who cites several Marvel A-list character creators, notes that a customer who never signed the documents fared better than those who did. “He has a lawyer who doesn’t listen to Marvel,” says the source. (Marvel declined to comment because it doesn’t discuss deals with individual creators.)
Joe Casey is among the creators who didn’t sign the deal. The screenwriter created America Chavez, the main character of the $ 954 million box office Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and received no payment for its use in the film. But he prefers to speak out in the hope that it will help change the system. “Maybe $5,000 means something to a guy in his 20s who doesn’t have a career,” says Casey. “For many of us who have been in this business for decades, this is an insult.”
A few months after Johansson and Disney settled the lawsuit, Elena Belova appeared in the Disney+ series. Hawk EyeStrengthening the character’s role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Under the contract signed by Grayson, she would be paid $2,000 to appear in a television episode (or $1,000 if she parted ways with Jones). When Grayson arrived at Marvel in July, he was told that, according to his calculations, this was not true. How does $300 per episode sound?
A version of this story appeared in the July 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
