DMG Funding for movies info...

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eschnit
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DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by eschnit »

I think this is more general Valiant than movies/tv.

Get me up to speed on what you know of the discussions. From what I understand Spring through Summer last year there were discussions of a 5 movie deal with funding in excess of $100 million to do two Bloodshot movies, two Harbinger, then a Harbinger Wars, starting with Bloodshot. Also, some discussions of Shadowman, A&A, and TV. And a component of marketing in China and the US (interesting given the funding source and the Valiant Universe, so diverse, yet no primary Chinese characters). They seemed to have producers and directors lined up. China's stock market hasn't been great since then. Deadpool came out and did fantastic since then. I understand some of the history of Dinesh picking up the pieces a while back, and am not sure what all of the catalysts were to get New Valiant going a few years ago, perhaps this site helped. Also, is Valiant based out of New York? I've talked with a few of you who are in contact regulary with the folks at Valiant.

I saw Dinesh said recently that they're not afraid to not make a movie unless it'll be done right, and that they're well funded. Hopefully that's a positive thing, and not a way to let us down easy, so when it doesn't happen it doesn't come across weak. I'm hoping this stuff in the works comes to fruition sooner than later, and is done well. As for whether it'll be style over substance, I suppose it would be like other comic movies, a range. I'm confident you guys can help me fill in the blanks. Seems odd that if they expect 2017 to be when the first movie comes out, that there haven't been any more talks in many months. With that kind of funding, what's the hold up?

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by Elveen »

I don't see the movie coming out when it was originally thought, many reasons for this.

I don't think money will be a factor (I KNOW it always is, but they have money to do these things.)
I'm thinking they have more than they have even let us know. It seems to be the way they do things. When they announce one thing, they really have 2-3 other similar related things.

I also 100% believe that media will happen. I trust what I have been told. They have never not done what they said they would. I believe that they will explore and actually have many different platforms of Valiant related content (movies, TV, video games, maybe even cartoons).

Lastly, I think for them, they don't mind waiting. I don't think there are terribly in a rush.

eschnit
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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by eschnit »

Shadowman on Netflix? Harbinger on PlayStation? Marvel broke out with X-Men in 2000 and the tipping point where they couldn't be ignored was Spider-Man in 2006 I think. The Spidey cartoons or Ferrigno/Bixby Hulk were blips on the radar, as were the books themselves. Media's changed over time, but the song remains the same. It's all about blockbuster movies. Only exception I can thinkofis Harley Quinn, but different animal, she was attached to two huge established characters.

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by nonplayer »

If it was me investing a squee of cash I'd want to see the character bloodshot selling more comics than they are doing. Bloodshot Reborn is not doing that great on numbers to weren't a movie. What's the number 6000? Off the top of my head. I'm sorry but that's not even alot and I wouldn't dump a bunch of money on a character that has under 60,000 followers. Look at transformers that idea halls been around since I was a child so it hits on a bunch of people all my generation and theat generations children toy lines and bla bla bla it was a no brained for them to make that movie and invest in it. It's a strong idea with lots of followers. Unfortunately bloodshots not there yet. I to would not expect a movie any time soon.
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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by hunter_peterson »

Elveen wrote:I don't see the movie coming out when it was originally thought, many reasons for this.

I don't think money will be a factor (I KNOW it always is, but they have money to do these things.)
I'm thinking they have more than they have even let us know. It seems to be the way they do things. When they announce one thing, they really have 2-3 other similar related things.

I also 100% believe that media will happen. I trust what I have been told. They have never not done what they said they would. I believe that they will explore and actually have many different platforms of Valiant related content (movies, TV, video games, maybe even cartoons).

Lastly, I think for them, they don't mind waiting. I don't think there are terribly in a rush.
The reason we haven't heard anything is that the directors of Bloodshot are currently filming John Wick 2. They'll get started when that wraps around the middle of this year. It shouldn't have much post, being just an action movie, so they will likely get filming Bloodshot this year. More than enough time.

I think they "we are happy not making a movie" thing refers to other Valiant properties that we have heard of being developed as movies, like Shadowman and A&A. They likely aren't ready yet, and Valiant will wait until they are.
nonplayer wrote:If it was me investing a squee of cash I'd want to see the character bloodshot selling more comics than they are doing. Bloodshot Reborn is not doing that great on numbers to weren't a movie. What's the number 6000? Off the top of my head. I'm sorry but that's not even alot and I wouldn't dump a bunch of money on a character that has under 60,000 followers. Look at transformers that idea halls been around since I was a child so it hits on a bunch of people all my generation and theat generations children toy lines and bla bla bla it was a no brained for them to make that movie and invest in it. It's a strong idea with lots of followers. Unfortunately bloodshots not there yet. I to would not expect a movie any time soon.
Comic sales and movie sales are independent of one another. That's why movies don't boost comic sales. The marketing done to popularize the characters in promoting the movie long term seems to make a difference, though. It took until now for Iron Man to see a bump in comic sales from MCU exposure, and also A-list talent. So the sales of the comic before it gets a mainstream push are irrelevant, though actually would make the early VEI comics more valuable.

Also, there is a Bloodshot movie coming out late next year that is already written and has directors attached. Assuming casting is already underway, it's right on schedule.

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by jmatt »

hunter_peterson wrote:Comic sales and movie sales are independent of one another.
This. The number of people who went to see The Crow is completely detached from the number of people who actually bought the mini-series.

Ya know what I would love to see turned into a movie? Frank Miller's Ronin.

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by bygranddesign »

Most of the mainstream NEVER heard of 2 guns, wanted, kick-*SQUEE*, cowboys&aliens, Lucifer, Jessica Jones ...etc etc etc ... before they became movie and tv properties ... and most of those were fairly succesful. Whether they had publishing sales of 40K or 7K ... I'm not sure it makes that much of a difference.

Its all about whether you can sell the concept and the character to the movie/TV studio

No one heard of John Wick either -- Frankly its a pretty uninspiring concept for a movie, imo -- yet it was fairly successful and is getting a sequel.

Bloodshot has a better concept than John Wick ... and has the advantage of being a comic property that is part of a interconnected superhero universe

We just need to dial down the expectations -- this isn't going to have the budget and the reach of a Marvell or DC property or Transformers.

60-70 million budget for a Bloodshot movie I think would work -- 120-140 million box office expectation is what I would hope for
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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by jmatt »

bygranddesign wrote:We just need to dial down the expectations -- this isn't going to have the budget and the reach of a Marvell or DC property or Transformers.

60-70 million budget for a Bloodshot movie I think would work -- 120-140 million box office expectation is what I would hope for
I concur. That smells about right to me. I'd be happy with $80 million at the box office.

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by eschnit »

John Wick had a $20 million budget.

Domestic Box Office $43,037,835
International Box Office $33,200,000
Worldwide Box Office $76,237,835

Home Market Performance
Domestic DVD Sales $10,875,602
Domestic Blu-ray Sales $10,488,593
Total Domestic Video Sales $21,364,195

...and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 85%, which is exceptional.

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by DirtbagSailor »

This was what I wrote for a number of articles so far. It is based on the information available, as well as actual discussions with Valiant.
In the early 1990s Valiant Comics was launched and quickly grew to become the third largest publisher in the comic book industry. Valiant was the first publisher, well, ever to be a legitimate challenge to both Marvel and DC in terms of sales and reach. Then, almost overnight the industry collapsed and Valiant was sold to the highest bidder.

In 2012 Valiant Entertainment was re-launched by Dinesh Shamdasani and Jason Kothari, and is today stronger than ever with a brighter future more promising than its founders might have ever imagined possible. In the Spring of 2015, Valiant partnered with DMG (a Chinese/US film production group / distributor with a hand in such movies as Transformers: Age of Extinction, Iron Man 3, and Looper) and together raised a nine-figure film fund to adapt the Valiant characters to film and TV (source: DMG and Valiant to Bring Largest Independent Superhero Universe to Movie Theaters Worldwide). For those who like numbers, nine-figures is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the Summer of 2015, Valiant then announced a partnership with Sony Pictures to bring Bloodshot and Harbinger to the Big Screen in a five picture plan than culminates in a shared universe Harbinger Wars movie.
In the Summer of 2015, Valiant then announced a partnership with Sony Pictures to bring Bloodshot and Harbinger to the Big Screen in a five picture plan that culminates in a shared universe Harbinger Wars movie.

  • “Bloodshot, arriving in theaters in 2017, will kick off the five-picture plan leading to Harbinger Wars and will be directed by David Leitch & Chad Stahelski (John Wick) from a script by Jeff Wadlow (Kick *SQUEE* 2) and Eric Heisserer (Story of Your Life). Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe from Original Film (The Fast and the Furious franchise) and Dinesh Shamdasani from Valiant Entertainment will produce the film. Matthew Vaughn and Jason Kothari will serve as executive producers.” (source: The Valiant Voice)

    “Harbinger will follow shortly thereafter from a script by Eric Heisserer (Story of Your Life). Sony and Valiant remain tight-lipped about potential directors. Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe from Original Film (The Fast and the Furious franchise) and Dinesh Shamdasani from Valiant Entertainment will produce.” (source: The Valiant Voice)

    “Both Bloodshot and Harbinger will be followed by sequels before the title characters confront each other head on in Harbinger WARS—a motion picture directly inspired by Valiant’s critically acclaimed 2013 comic book crossover of the same name. Andrea Giannetti will oversee the five-picture Harbinger Wars initiative for Sony Pictures.” (source: The Valiant Voice)


So clearly, the five film projects that are known (so far) are:
  • 1.) Bloodshot (Sony Pictures: expected 2017 / 2018 timeframe)

    2.) Harbinger

    3.) Bloodshot 2

    4.) Harbinger 2

    5.) Harbinger Wars
It should also be noted that Hollywood sucks. Watch a few seasons of "Entourage" and it will all become clear. It's quite difficult to make a movie; harder still to do it "right" without 500 committee members trying to get you to change some aspect of a character to appeal to a certain demographic based on their focus-group collected info, or own agenda even. The Amazing Spider-Man II, Spider-Man III, Wolverine Origins, The Wolverine, and pretty much any of the Fantastic Four movies show that such problems exist.

These films will be made, but I would be shocked if Hollywood doesn't try to first be, well, Hollywood and pull Hollywood type *SQUEE*. I may need to move down there and slap some producers around.

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by sonicdan »

DirtbagSailor wrote: I may need to move down there and slap some producers around.
You're hired! :high-five:
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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by Elveen »

I wonder if the doings at Sony have .... um.... changed a few things.

Sony has had some issue and changes.

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by bygranddesign »

eschnit wrote:John Wick had a $20 million budget.

Domestic Box Office $43,037,835
International Box Office $33,200,000
Worldwide Box Office $76,237,835

Home Market Performance
Domestic DVD Sales $10,875,602
Domestic Blu-ray Sales $10,488,593
Total Domestic Video Sales $21,364,195

...and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 85%, which is exceptional.
But Bloodshot would need to have a much higher budget to be done right, IMO. Some major CGI needed to get the sci-fi aspects of the character and concept -- the nanites, B.S taking major damage (and healing from it), face morphing...etc. It would need much larger scale battle scenes involving P.R.S and the military. Also, Harbinger kids presumably (maybe Harada also) and showcasing their abilities in a way that looks exciting, realistic and not cheesy.

Wanted had a 70 million dollar budget ... B.S can have some of that similar high octane action and set pieces (along with some of that John Wick grittiness) add some major CGI effects... but subtract some high priced actors (sorry no Angelina Jolie in Bloodshot) ... and 70-80 million would work for B.S.

I'm surprised Shadowman isn't the first character with a movie though -- could be done right with a much cheaper budget.
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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by DirtbagSailor »

Image

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by hunter_peterson »

DirtbagSailor wrote:Image
Kind of funny to see how much of that has changed.

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Re: DMG Funding for movies info...

Post by DirtbagSailor »

That's a point to take with almost any of these films. Ryan Reynolds once said that Deadpool was basically the most abusive and worst relationship he ever had with all the back and fourth, go and no-go that the film went through before finally getting made.


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