Captain America 3 budget clash led to Marvel changes

Earlier in the week, we reported the news that Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, widely credited with masterminding the slate of films that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe, had broken free of Ike Perlmutter, the Marvel Entertainment CEO who has a reputation for being on the cheap frugal side. Until now, he’s the man Feige has been reporting to, but thanks to changes this week, his new direct boss is Alan Horn, head of Disney Studios.

At the same time, Marvel’s "Creative Committee" has been disbanded. This committee was made up of people from Marvel’s assorted divisions, such as Marvel Comics publisher Dan Buckley and Perlmutter lieutenant Alan Fine, and has has input on creative and business decisions. It appears to have wielded a fair amount of control.

That Feige no longer has to report to the committee also strengthens his hand, and The Hollywood Reporter has shed some light on what led to these changes. It quotes multiple sources as saying that the budget of Captain America: Civil Warwas the catalyst.

The scale of the third Captain Americamovie increased as more and more Avengers characters were added to its roster, and the cost of the film “ballooned accordingly." As a result, Feige was reportedly asked to scale the film down by Perlmutter and the committee.

But after “years of frustration," this request was the one that apparently led Feige to consider quitting Marvel. Disney CEO Bob Iger, not wanting to see the architect of the multi-billion-dollar Marvel film empire walk, restructured things to make Feige happier, while Captain America: Civil War presumably kept its budget.

Captain America: Civil War arrives in theaters on May 6, 2016.