JediTricks wrote:Sony declined Disney's offer, which is their legal right. Disney came to them wanting 50% of the take for 50% of the funding as they were already producing on it (in the form of Kevin Feige's producing role and in allowing use of their MCU characters in the films, and Sony said no. Each side has suggested they are the aggrieved, so nobody outside the meetings knows for sure who pulled out, but Disney is the one who is not continuing the existing deal so in my mind they pulled out. I don't think they were entirely wrong to, but that's the risks of the business when you hold so few of the cards. Sony didn't request or require a renegotiation, that's something Disney came to them on.
As I understand it, Sony never actually declined Disney's offer (supposedly it is even still possible talks between the two companies could continue.
Edit Update: Wegotthiscovered is reporting that Disney and Sony will be meeting again this week to once again try and work out a deal on Spider-Man in fact), but Sony apparently has been refusing to negotiate. Disney reportedly initially offered Sony a 25/75 co-financing split (as I said, I've seen some conflicting reports on these figures, but the initial offer seems to have been around this amount at any rate) - with Sony getting the 75%. Sony reportedly didn't even respond to that offer. They didn't decline it, they didn't counter it, they didn't do anything. And apparently they gave Disney the cold shoulder for 6 months after that offer was made. At that point, Disney apparently decided to be more aggressive to get Sony's attention, increasing their co-financing offer to 50%. After that, talks broke down and Sony went to the press claiming Disney pulled out, saying that Disney told them Kevin Feige was too busy to work on Spidey. Which we only have Sony's word for that. I should also point out, it doesn't matter if Sony didn't request or require a renegotiation. The original deal was for Spidey to appear in 5 MCU films, and they reached that stipulation with Far From Home. A new deal is absolutely required for the two companies to continue to work together on Spider-Man, regardless of if Sony (or Disney for that matter) wanted a new deal, or even if the agreement ended up essentially just extending the old deal. No matter what happened, both companies had to agree to a new contract.
We'll probably never know what exactly was said in those meetings, but it's sounding to me like Sony actually wanted talks to break down so that they could bring Spidey back under their wing to bolster their own Marvel films. They've been pushing Marvel to include Venom and other spin-off films they're developing with the MCU from the start. I remember there was an interview about 2 years ago where Pascal even claimed Venom would be part of the MCU and Feige quickly said there were no plans for Venom to be included in it, making it clear it was a separate Sony project. Understandingly, Disney/Marvel doesn't want to include any of Sony's projects in the MCU that they have no say in. The new deal supposedly could have changed that by allowing Marvel some involvement on those films as well, but Sony seems to just want to mooch off the rewards of the MCU, rather than allowing Marvel any say to help them make their movies better.
I hate to speak ill of my hometown business, but Sony once they go alone will absolutely muff this just as they've muffed it every time. They have a toxic executive suite that damns every project which comes their way. Amy Pascal may not work for Sony anymore, but she is still producer on these Spidey films -- I don't have faith that she's a driving force behind any success Sony's enjoyed in the last decade, though, as she's shown signs of stepping on her own toes time and time again.
Amy Pascal might still be a producer for the Spidey films, but that's only due to contractual obligations that are still in effect. The impression I get is that she's not really a part of the decisions anymore. I'd be more concerned with Tom Rothman, who took over her job at Sony and has a track record that is even worst than Pascal's when it comes to super hero films. They are absolutely going to muff things up (again)...