The Bizarre Influence Chick-Fil-A Has On The MCU
It's no secret that several of the Marvel Studios productions to come out in the last few years – including "Black Widow," "WandaVision," "Loki," "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," "Avengers: Endgame," "Avengers: Infinity War," "Thor: Ragnarok," and "Ant-Man," just to name a few – were filmed in Georgia. It's also no secret that the MCU is doing its part to increase representation in their productions. CBS News recently reported that Loki is officially bisexual. Falcon from the highly successful "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" was the first-ever African-American superhero featured in a mainstream comic book back in the late 1960s (via Deutsche Welle). According to Variety, Marvel is shelling out over $200 million in order to make "Black Widow" the biggest blockbuster to hit theaters this summer. And those are just a few examples.
What fans might not know is that these movies and shows were filmed at a location called Trilith Studios. The man responsible for investing in and building up Trilith is the infamous Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A. Despite being vocally against things like gay marriage, the fast-food billionaire is deeply invested – figuratively and financially – in the state-of-the-art movie studio that has brought the MCU to life.
Dan Cathy has invested millions in the MCU
It all started back in 2009 when Cathy rented out an empty airplane hanger that he just happened to have lying around (because who doesn't?) to the Lifetime Network. They were looking for studio space in order to film their hit show "Drop Dead Diva." Cathy became "hooked" after sitting in on filming and started looking for more business partners. According to Forbes, Frank Patterson, the current president and CEO of Trilith Studios (the filming home of many MCU movies), has described Cathy as having "the soul of an artist," which may explain why the billionaire has invested so much of his fortune in Trilith.
Trilith Studios is located 25 miles south of Atlanta. It started as a $50 million joint-venture for the land and 250,000 square feet of office space, warehouses, and workshops. It has since been invested in time and again to develop some of the most sophisticated movie sets that money can buy, and is now the second-largest movie studio in the U.S. So far, the revenue from Trilith comes from renting out their stages and spaces to networks and studios that don't have their own private presence in the area. This simple operation rakes in as much as a whopping $40 million a year. Though, that's arguably small potatoes compared to the up-and-coming real estate market that's happening across the highway.
Trilith, Georgia, is transforming itself into the next Hollywood. Those who live and work locally in the entertainment industry have been contacted by friends and colleagues in L.A. about moving there. So far, Trilith Studios has plans to invest another $585 million over the next few years to build up amenities in the town, bring in more entertainment companies, and, hopefully, become a billion-dollar company by the middle-to-late 2020s.