Marvel President Kevin Feige gets star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
LOS ANGELES - A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was unveiled Thursday, one day before the release of its latest film, "Deadpool & Wolverine."
The film's stars, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, joined Feige at the star-studded ceremony in front of the El Capitan Theatre, which was set for a 3D screening of "Deadpool & Wolverine."
Cast members Emma Corrin and Chris Evans and director and co-writer Shawn Levy also attended, along with Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan and fellow actors Chris Pratt, Brie Larson, Sebastian Stan, Kathryn Hahn, Simu Liu and David Harbour.
The star is the 2,785th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.
Kevin Feige appears at the Hollywood Walk Of Fame ceremony on July 25, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) (Kevin Winter/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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"It is surreal that I will now be part of the foundation of Hollywood, immortalized there in concrete," Feige said moments before his star was unveiled. "Producing is all I ever wanted to do ever since I knew it was a thing that a person could do, and to be able to do it alongside the most talented actors and storytellers in the business is more than I could ever have asked for."
"Deadpool & Wolverine" is the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Feige has been a producer of all of them. Each of the 33 previous films have opened No. 1 at the box office with 10 of the films grossing more than $1 billion worldwide.
"Avengers: Endgame" and "Avengers: Infinity War," surpassed the $2 billion mark, with "Avengers: Endgame" being the fastest film in cinematic history to reach the milestone.
Feige is the highest grossing producer of all time, with his films' combined worldwide box office gross of over $29.7 billion.
"He keeps the Marvel universe alive and well and vital, and without him, none of this works," Reynolds said at the ceremony. "And in his wake, people will remark ... on his career achievements over his character. If you ask me, you can't genuinely have one without the other. His character is the reason he makes magic."
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Feige's films include " Black Panther," which in 2019 became the first film featuring a superhero to be nominated for a best picture Oscar and "Iron Man," which was among the 25 films added to the National Film Registry in 2022. The films are selected based on their cultural, historic and/or aesthetic importance.
"Ever since I've known you, you have a gift, many, many gifts," Jackman told Feige at the ceremony. "But you have a unique and extraordinary talent of making each project feel like it's the most exciting movie in the world."
Born June 2, 1973 in Boston and raised in Westfield, New Jersey, Feige graduated USC in 1995, which he chose to attend because it was the alma mater of his favorite directors — George Lucas, Ron Howard and Robert Zemeckis.
While at USC, Feige saw an intern posting for The Donners' Company and went on to become assistant to Lauren Shuler Donner when she was producing "Volcano" and "You've Got Mail." She made him an associate producer of the first "X-Men" film in 2000 due to his knowledge of the Marvel Universe.
Feige was hired by Marvel Studios in 2000 as a producer. He became its president of production in 2007, president in 2010 and chief creative officer for Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Comics, Marvel Television and Marvel Animation in 2019.
During the ceremony, Feige expressed gratitude to his creative partners before shifting his focus to his wife and two children, who were seated in the audience.
"I dreamed a lot of dreams when I moved out here, but I never dreamed that the most successful partnership, and the most successful co- productions and the most important thing in my life would be the family that I get to go home to every single day," Feige said.