One could argue producer Kevin Feige’s hot streak even extends to philanthropic efforts. On Wednesday night, at the end of the dinner hosted by the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation honoring him as its Pioneer of the Year, the organization’s president Lisa Bunnell revealed it raised $1.9 million for the Will Rogers Pioneers Assistance Fund. That’s more money than the annual event had raised in over 20 years.
In light of the event raising money on behalf of the fund helping individuals in motion picture distribution, exhibition, and vendors exclusive to either sector who are encountering an illness, injury, or life-changing event, a good amount of the conversation around Feige was focused on the Marvel Studios executive’s unprecedented success at the box office.
For instance, Bunnell, who is also President of Distribution at Focus Features, was the first to speak at the event, and was quick to mention that “Avengers Endgame: Encore” just went No. 1 at the box office this past weekend, making over $26 million. Later, Todd Vradenburg, President and CEO of Cinema Association and Co-Chairman of the Pioneers Assistance Fund Committee, laid out some statistics about Feige’s career including how his productions have made over $35 billion at the box office, making him the most successful producer of all time. Of the 38 films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe he oversees, 12 have made over $1 billion, three have made over $2 billion, and the overall average gross for one of his films is $900 million. “No one deserves this award more than you do,” said Vradenburg.
For a more personal touch, “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt came onstage to share how his relationship with Feige developed over the years. “Kevin and I, we go way back. I auditioned for this man, honestly, probably seven or 8,000 times before he said, ‘You know what? This guy just might be able to act,’” he joked. “Either that or he just really needed the third Chris to complete the set.”
It turns out that Pratt had actually sworn off auditioning for Marvel after failed auditions for Captain America, and one of the members of Thor’s Asgardian posse, but finally landed the role of Star-Lord after MCU casting director Sarah Finn tricked both him and director James Gunn into a meeting that Feige was also present at. “What I appreciate the most about Kevin isn’t just that he gave me the opportunity, it’s that he gave me the opportunity when it wasn’t necessarily obvious to everyone else,” said the actor. “That’s what great producers do. They don’t just see what’s in front of them. They see potential. They convince everyone else to believe in it too.”
Pratt was then followed by one of the filmmakers Feige gave, what he characterized, as a “career-defining” opportunity to: “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau. As the first filmmaker to make a project in the MCU, before Marvel even had a studio home, Favreau recalled Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, who played the villain in “Iron Man,” being a calming presence for both of them on the set of their very expensive independent production.
Where there was tension between the two was in the editing room. “Kevin would always be the guy who would come in, I’d be working on the scene, getting the jokes to work. He’d be like, ‘You don’t need that. Cut that. Cut that line. The scene’s too long. We’re lingering too much on that,’” said Favreau, who referred to his cuts as “luxurious,” trying to protect every great little moment he could. “And I would just turn to him and I would say to him, ‘Why do you hate movies?’”
Favreau would relent. “And eventually, of course, we end up trimming everything. But not because he forced me to, but because he was right,” said the filmmaker. “I learned later that you’ve got to keep things moving. You can’t be too indulgent when you’re making movies. You’re not only just making it for yourself to enjoy, but it’s for the audience. You want them to experience something good.”
Later, bringing up the continued success of films like “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” Favreau would joke that casting himself in the MCU as Iron Man’s bodyguard Happy Hogan was “the best thing I ever did,” and “maybe Spider-Man will remember me.”
The night also included “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” composer Michael Giacchino introducing a Tiki band playing more Marvel scores, in lieu of him not being able to make it because he was sick, and a clip package of several MCU stars including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Chris Hemsworth, Paul Bettany, Hailee Steinfeld, Pedro Pascal, and Vanessa Kirby, sharing more praise for the producer, as well as kinds words from producer Louis D’Esposito, Feige’s co-president at Marvel Studios.
On stage at the ballroom inside the Beverly Hilton hotel, Feige finally accepted his Pioneer of the Year award, starting with a response to Favreau, who he referred to as the Godfather of the MCU for “not just making the great movies he made for us, but helping teach us how to make movies, and not kicking us out of the cutting room when we made suggestions, and that notion of collaboration.”
Feige also thanked Pratt, Giacchino, the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, and the late Will Rogers himself before saying “I’m honored to be in this room tonight with so many people who champion theatrical exhibition. That is very distinct. I’ve talked a lot over the years about how filmmaking is a collaborative medium. People say it takes a village. If you look at the end credits of the Marvel Studios movie, it takes a fairly large city. But the final crucial part of that collaboration is the audience.” He continued, “Movies are an invitation to experience a story together. When a film connects, when a crowd is cheering and laughing and crying together, that shared emotion is the final step that completes the movie. That’s the real movie magic.”
After referring to the theatrical exhibition the organization supports, calling it “so vital to our culture and our humanity,” with a special shoutout to his hometown theater the Rialto in New Jersey, the honoree brought the conversation back to the future, where “Avengers Doomsday” will come to theaters on December 18. “The Marvel mythology is ripe for storytelling. It’s so rich. It is, and you can look this up, the longest running fictional narrative in history. And ‘Doomsday’ is only our 39th movie,” said Feige. “We’ve still got a lot of stories to tell. A lot of movies to make.”