He’s a “great guy who’s incredibly humble” who has also produced 38 movies in 17 years that have delivered more than $35 billion at the box office. Twelve of those titles delivered more than $1 billion; three of them generated $2 billion apiece. Not to mention, Kevin Feige is the architect of the most meticulously crafted, interconnected cinematic universe in the history of motion pictures.
Feige was the star of the night but the conversation in the packed ballroom was dominated by the big news of the day, Paramount Skydance’s surprise news that Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz is leaving the toymaker to join the Melrose plant as co-CEO with David Ellison.
Favreau echoed Pratt’s comments about Feige’s passion for all things related to cinema.
“The man loves movies. He listens to movie soundtracks in his car,” the “Iron Man” director told the crowd. “He’s driving down PCH blasting the ‘Ferngully’ soundtrack.”
Feige took a bit of gentle ribbing about his love of custom baseball caps and other characteristics that have become his signature. From video, Giacchino introduced a large tiki band that emerged on stage to perform Marvel movie tunes with a Polynesian flair.
“Underneath all the technology and the spectacle, the years of work from development to post. It’s still the same thing: a group of people making something with others, and then a group of people sitting in the dark and experiencing it with others. That is the full process of a movie,” Feige said.
“The final crucial part of that collaboration is the audience. Movies are an invitation to experience a story together. When a film connects and the crowd is cheering, laughing and crying together, that shared emotion is the final step in the process. That’s the real movie magic, You might even say it’s not a real movie without it,” he said.
