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Avi Arad

Avi Arad was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marvel Studios, the film and television division of Marvel Entertainment, and Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment. Mr. Arad has been the driving force behind Marvel's Hollywood renaissance with a track record that has been nothing short of spectacular, including a string of eight consecutive No. 1 box office openings.

As an executive producer and producer, his credits include Spider-Man and its sequel, Spider-Man 2 (Columbia Pictures), which set an industry record for opening day box office receipts; X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand (Twentieth Century Fox); The Hulk (Universal Pictures); Daredevil (New Regency); The Punisher (Lions Gate Entertainment); Blade, Blade II and Blade: Trinity (New Line Cinema); Elektra (Twentieth Century Fox); and Fantastic Four (Twentieth Century Fox).

Arad's recent live-action feature film slate includes the box-office smash Ghost Rider (Columbia Pictures), the much-anticipated Spider-Man 3 (Columbia Pictures), Iron Man (Paramount), which is now before the cameras, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, and The Incredible Hulk (Universal), which begins production later this year.

Complementing the current studio relationships, Arad is also overseeing MVL Film Finance LLC, Marvel's independently financed film slate arranged with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith. Through the film fund, Arad will be developing and producing films in-house based on ten renowned Marvel characters such as Captain America, Nick Fury, Ant-Man and Dr. Strange.

Complementing Marvel's feature film line-up, Arad is also overseeing Marvel's aggressive animation plans. Marvel Studios is currently in development with leading animation studio Antefilms on a Fantastic Four television series expected to launch in 2006. Additionally, Marvel has teamed with Lions Gate to develop a high-quality line-up of animated productions specifically for the DVD market. The first title, based on The Avengers, was released in February 2006.

Born in Cyprus and raised in Israel, Arad came to the United States during his college years and enrolled at Hofstra University to study industrial management. He earned a bachelor of business administration from the University in 1972.

A long-established expert in youth entertainment, Arad is one of the world's top toy designers. He has been involved in the creation and development of over two hundred successful products, including action figures, play sets, dolls, toy vehicles, electronic products, educational software and video games. In fact, virtually every major toy and youth entertainment manufacturer, including Toy Biz, Hasbro, Mattel, Nintendo, Tiger, Ideal, Galoob, Tyco and Sega, has been selling his products for more than 20 years.

When not working as a producer, Arad can be found riding his Harley-Davidson. His enthusiasm for the motorcycle inspired him to become a successful restaurateur. He founded and still owns the Harley-Davidson Cafe in Las Vegas.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2007.
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Avi Arad Facts

OccupationProducer
BirthplaceRamat Gan, Israel

Selected Filmography

The Party
Red Dawn
Pheonix Saga Part 2: The Dark Shroud
Dr. Octopus: Armed And Dangerous
PAC-MAN and the Ghostly Adventures
Old Soldiers
Neogenic Nightmare Chapter 5: Mutants Revenge
Sins Of The Fathers Chapter 1: Doctor Strange
Nightcrawler
Growing Pains
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