Disney-Sony ‘Spider-Man’ feud ends. Kevin Feige to produce sequel

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will produce the next “Spider-Man” movie after all, Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Co. said Friday.

The announcement came about a month after Culver City-based Sony and Marvel parent Disney appeared to part ways over financial terms for the superhero franchise. The rift threatened to take the webslinger out of the lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But the two sides have apparently come to terms.

The third film in the “Spider-Man: Homecoming” series, starring Tom Holland, is scheduled for release July 16, 2021, the studios said. As part of the deal, Spider-Man also will appear in a future Marvel Studios film. Amy Pascal will return to produce through her Pascal Pictures shingle.

Financial details were not disclosed, but people familiar with the matter said Disney will finance 25% of the upcoming “Spider-Man” film’s budget and will thus collect a quarter of the profits. Disney had previously pushed to finance up to 50% of the movie, a proposal Sony rejected because it didn’t wanted to give up so much of the windfall from its most popular character.

Earlier “Spider-Man” movies were fully financed by Sony, which is owned by Tokyo-based tech giant Sony Corp. Under that arrangement, Disney was allowed to use the Spider-Man character in its own Disney movies. Disney also benefited because it owns the merchandising rights for Spider-Man.

The “Spider-Man” franchise has been highly lucrative for Sony. This summer’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” grossed $1.13 billion at the global box office.

“I am thrilled that Spidey’s journey in the MCU will continue, and I and all of us at Marvel Studios are very excited that we get to keep working on it,” Feige said in a statement. “Spider-Man is a powerful icon and hero whose story crosses all ages and audiences around the globe.

“He also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes,” he added, “so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse, you never know what surprises the future might hold.”