Post by Gun4ALeg on Jan 27, 2005 16:15:17 GMT -5
I can't believe this. This is an interview with the guy in charge of SOTA Toys, the people making the new Darkman figure (which they have pics of in the package at http://www.sotatoys.com). They posted an interview they did, where they reveal that the guy worked on the first film, and that he had to remind Universal that they own the right! What idiots! So he finishes by saying we should probably be seeing a lot more Darkman related material now! ;D
Here's the part of the interview that pertains to Darkman:
JB: What kind of work was involved getting the American Werewolf In London license? Had Universal been approached about it previously?
JM: Universal had never been approached. It took several months of legal work to figure out the rights. It ended up being co-owned by Universal and John Landis (who has now become a good friend). John was totally stoked when he found out, as was Rick Baker...they took me to lunch to talk about their ideas for the line. For me, American Werewolf has at least half dozen cool figures to do. That’s one of the ones I was very surprised Movie Maniacs hadn’t picked up.
This leads to an interesting story on Darkman. Universal didn’t know they owned the merchandise rights. It didn’t show up on any of their merchandise sheets. I had to convince them to spend a little time and have their lawyers look into it. I knew at the time that film was made Sam (Raimi) didn’t have the power to retain those rights so it HAD to be Universal even though they said they didn’t have them. Turns out I was right and afterwards Darkman started to show up in all their catalogs of films available to license…<br>
JB: Nice work, it’s good to know the fans know more about the movies and their rights than the studios that made them!
So is the plan to try and do multiple figures from the same over the course of a few lines like you said you plan for AWIL?
JM: Basically, yeah. Some licenses, like AWIL and Mummy Returns, have several characters I think will kick ass. Some, like Darkman, are really only good for one. I will try and not put two characters from the same license into the same line. I like diversity.
JB: What was Raimi's reaction to finally seeing Darkman in glorious 7"?
JM: Sam called the other day and loved it. He authorized us to quote him in all ads, etc. I think we'll be working together in the future
Darkman was one of the very first films I ever worked on in Hollywood (I sculpted the 12" Darkmans for miniature shots), so it holds a very warm place in my heart. Everyone on that film was great. Making that and Toxie was a real full circle closure thing for me. So many of these figures are simply me indulging myself on recreating characters I grew up with. It’s very nostalgic and extremely satisfying in so many ways.
Here's the part of the interview that pertains to Darkman:
JB: What kind of work was involved getting the American Werewolf In London license? Had Universal been approached about it previously?
JM: Universal had never been approached. It took several months of legal work to figure out the rights. It ended up being co-owned by Universal and John Landis (who has now become a good friend). John was totally stoked when he found out, as was Rick Baker...they took me to lunch to talk about their ideas for the line. For me, American Werewolf has at least half dozen cool figures to do. That’s one of the ones I was very surprised Movie Maniacs hadn’t picked up.
This leads to an interesting story on Darkman. Universal didn’t know they owned the merchandise rights. It didn’t show up on any of their merchandise sheets. I had to convince them to spend a little time and have their lawyers look into it. I knew at the time that film was made Sam (Raimi) didn’t have the power to retain those rights so it HAD to be Universal even though they said they didn’t have them. Turns out I was right and afterwards Darkman started to show up in all their catalogs of films available to license…<br>
JB: Nice work, it’s good to know the fans know more about the movies and their rights than the studios that made them!
So is the plan to try and do multiple figures from the same over the course of a few lines like you said you plan for AWIL?
JM: Basically, yeah. Some licenses, like AWIL and Mummy Returns, have several characters I think will kick ass. Some, like Darkman, are really only good for one. I will try and not put two characters from the same license into the same line. I like diversity.
JB: What was Raimi's reaction to finally seeing Darkman in glorious 7"?
JM: Sam called the other day and loved it. He authorized us to quote him in all ads, etc. I think we'll be working together in the future
Darkman was one of the very first films I ever worked on in Hollywood (I sculpted the 12" Darkmans for miniature shots), so it holds a very warm place in my heart. Everyone on that film was great. Making that and Toxie was a real full circle closure thing for me. So many of these figures are simply me indulging myself on recreating characters I grew up with. It’s very nostalgic and extremely satisfying in so many ways.
