Sony TV Film Division Open To Selling…Maybe To Marvel?
Sony is entertaining bids for their TV and film division.
Tokyo’s Sony Corp. is currently in the process of listening to pitches for the potential sale of their film and television operations. This news coincides with the departure of Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton who claimed he was leaving to be the chairman of Snap Inc., the company that owns Snapchat.
“Every bank is pushing pitches,” said one person familiar with the process. Another confirmed that banks have paid a flurry of visits to Tokyo to advise on a sale of Sony’s film and TV business.
Things seem particularly grim for Sony in the film industry. Despite the company being in good shape overall, they are struggling with their film division. Box Office Mojo reported them falling in fifth place with a market share of only 8%. Warner, Fox, Disney, and Universal were all ahead of them in the industry.
While the sale may not be concrete, their own words make this sale seem imminent. Of the various projects they’ve been working on, their fate seems to be dependent upon the success of the “Emoji Movie.” In my opinion this film doesn’t seem like it would be a huge box office success.
“They want to see how the “Emoji Movie” movie does because they think they have a franchise and it might help them get a better price,” said a source, the film, which features a poop emoji, comes out on August 4.
Sony/Columbia has been struggling to survive among the competition over the years. The James Bond distribution rights could have a new home once “Bond 25” begins production. Sony needed Marvel Studios’ help to steer Spider-Man back in the right direction. They also sold back the Spider-Man merchandising rights. The “Ghostbusters” reboot didn’t perform as well as expected. And then there’s a slew of leaked information that came from WikiLeaks damning this division.
So a big question everyone will be asking is if Disney/Marvel would be interested in buying? Could this be an opportunity for Marvel to regain full rights to Spider-Man? Things may prove difficult in Disney acquiring Sony as CBS has had a long time interest and may already be making moves. This also raises a question about the Sony/Marvel relationship in the future if it falls under new ownership.
Tell us your thoughts on the situation in the comments below!
This was first reported by NY Post
