MOTUXMEN said:
the above quote Howard says they need to get ALL the actors likeness rights.
No the quote says the "need to acquire every actors head sculpts licensing approval by ourselves,"
Notice the
"by ourselves" part, which of course means the studio didn't do it. Saying the "every actor" part means no actors likeness came with the license NOT that every single actor is required in order to make any figures whatsoever.
They don't need every actor to agree to permit their likeness so they could make a figure of Beast. They'd only need the likeness rights of Nicholas Hoult for that.
MOTUXMEN said:
Another company singled out one specific actor (Jennifer Lawrence)...even though that isn't the same actor it supports the argument. The fact that there are ZERO figures or statues (licensed) with those actors likeness from this film series also supports the argument.
It supports the argument of that actor and
only that actor refusing likeness. If you're implying that because she withheld her likeness that it transcends to every actor doing so or that since there's none from Hot Toys other than wolverine because they can't get the actors approval then Howard proves that incorrect as he says they've got some actors likeness rights.
Here's Howard's quote.
Howard: I believe most of you have seen the prototype and the movie licencor approved too. [1]However, at a later stage the movie studio told us we would now need to acquire every actors head sculpts licensing approval by ourselves, [2]hence the delay. The Xmen movie license is quite tedious, and as mentioned before, [3]we need to talk to each actor. Some of them have given us the green light, so we are currently still in the planning stage of who to produce first
[1] They assumed they had Mcavoys likeness rights when they made the prototype of Xavier but then learned they didn't, hence the figure couldn't be released.
However they don't state they haven't since approached him, so Mcavoys position regarding likeness rights is unknown. They could've since gotten his approval and he could be the ones they have the rights of (mentioned below)
Basically what I'm saying is just because they couldn't release the Xavier figure then doesn't mean it's not still possible.
[2]Howard said delay not cancellation. Delay implies still possible. If it wasn't possible why would he say delay and not say that it wasn't possible to do anything from the IP? That proves they if they can get and actor likeness they can make a figure.
[3] "Some of them have given us the green light"
They've acquired some actors likeness rights, so they can make figures of them anytime they want but It seems they're negotiating with each actor then sitting on the ones they accumulate while they go after another and another. Basically getting as many as they can before making any figures.
The "delay" comment seemingly confirms this is the approach as they have approval for some but are delaying until they get more.
Another approach, which would be faster for fans, would be for them to make figures once getting the likeness rights from an actor then negotiate with the next actor on their list. In that approach they'd make figures as they get the rights and not after they accumulate several.
If they had gone with the latter we'd have gotten figures of the characters whose actor likeness rights they do have (as referenced by chan above), but they've gone with the former approach and are taking their sweet time to accumulate the amount of likeness rights desired before starting
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With that quote from Chan it's confirmed that:
- They have several actors likeness rights so can make figures of them if they want. Since he said "approval" that could mean they approved actual sculpts 4 years ago (HKFC 2012)
- They most likely decided to accumulate as many actors permission as possible before making any, hence why we haven't gotten any as they're either still acquiring them or have given up
- The Xavier figure couldn't be released then but could be released if they get Mcavoys approval
- If an actor declines it doesn't affect other figures of other characters being able to be made