Mforma has announced a licensing deal with Marvel to bring the comic book giant's vast universe of characters to mobile phones. As with the recent THQ Wireless Star Wars deal, content will include screensavers, logos, ring tones and a host of other personalisation extras as well as games. Get all the juicy details here.
This looks to be the way the mobile entertainment industry is going - away from quickie conversions of old arcade games and toward licensed multimedia packages designed to push mega-brands into our headspace. Almost all new blockbusters are accompanied by a selection of mobile phone goodies, distributed through network providers or via partner offers - like the current McDonald's/Incredibles promotion that sends logos and games to anyone who texts the number on the side of their 'Incredible twisty fries'. TV companies are also getting in on the act with Endemol producing mobile content based around Big Brother and Fear Factor, and new Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here titles on the way.
This really is a no-brainer for media companies looking for some easy publicity. Mobile content is cheap and quick to produce, and can be effortlessly delivered to millions of eager consumers.
So why aren't independant films taking advantage? Perhaps more people would have gone to see Nathaniel Kahn's richly provocative My Architect if the distributor had bothered to precede its release with a couple screen logos and a polyphonic ring tone...
