Saturday, June 21, 2008

Don't Sell Marvel Short

Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily » How Argument About ‘Iron Man’ Led To Bob Shaye’s Marvel Stock Short Debacle

Here's an astounding and incredible (although not invincible) story of Hollywood hubris. According to the article, former New Line exec Bob Shaye did not follow through on an option to make an Iron Man movie, because he was convinced Iron Man should not fly. The option expired, and Marvel Studios announced its Iron Man movie. Shaye was so convinced that the movie (which would feature a flying Iron Man) would fail that he shorted Marvel stock. Well, not only did Iron Man soar, but so did the film's box office and Marvel's stock. Shaye nevertheless told friends he would continue to short the stock, because he was convinced the Hulk movie that came out last week would fail. Didn't happen either.

This illustrates one of my mantras: Never make business decisions out of spite.

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