SPIDER-MAN 4 Cancelled. Time To Reboot Say Sony
Yesterday, the fairly surprising news that Sony were going to be rebooting the Spider-Man movie franchise after director Sam Raimi & lead actor Tobey Maguire left the production of Spider-Man 4.
This is Sony’s “official statement”:
“Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012. Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenager dealing with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises. The new chapter in the Spider-Man franchise produced by Columbia, Marvel Studios and Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will have a new cast and filmmaking team. Spider-Man 4 was to have been released in 2011, but had not yet gone into production.
“A decade ago we set out on this journey with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire and together we made three Spider-Man films that set a new bar for the genre. When we began, no one ever imagined that we would make history at the box-office and now we have a rare opportunity to make history once again with this franchise. Peter Parker as an ordinary young adult grappling with extraordinary powers has always been the foundation that has made this character so timeless and compelling for generations of fans. We’re very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter’s roots and we look forward to working once again with Marvel Studios, Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin on this new beginning,” said Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job,” said Sam Raimi.
“We have had a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration and friendship with Sam and Tobey and they have given us their best for the better part of the last decade.This is a bittersweet moment for us because while it is hard to imagine Spider-Man in anyone else’s hands, I know that this was a day that was inevitable,” said Matt Tolmach, president of Columbia Pictures, who has served as the studio’s chief production executive since the beginning of the franchise. “Now everything begins anew, and that’s got us all tremendously excited about what comes next. Under the continuing supervision of Avi and Laura, we have a clear vision for the future of Spider-Man and can’t wait to share this exciting new direction with audiences in 2012.”
“Spider-Man will always be an important franchise for Sony Pictures and a fresh start like this is a responsibility that we all take very seriously,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures. “We have always believed that story comes first and story guides the direction of these films. As we move onto the next chapter, we will stay true to that principle and will do so with the highest respect for the source material and the fans and moviegoers who deserve nothing but the best when it comes to bringing these stories and characters to life on the big screen.”
To be honest, I don’t actually think it’s that bad a thing. The script is already written, and they were planning a reboot after Spider-Man 4 (or Spider-M4n to give it’s supposedly official title *shudder*) anyway, so it’s no real surprise that they’ve decided to do it now rather than stick it out with Raimi.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Sam Raimi as a director and Spider-Man 2 was a great movie, but Spider-Man 3 was terrible! I know there was a fair bit of studio interference, like with the addition of Venom who Raimi hated as a comic character and really didn’t want in the movie – hence the nerfed version we got of the character, but as far as I know the song and dance routine was all Raimi!
Now someone else gets a chance to play in the universe and it might be a good thing, it might not. It will be interesting to see who they cast as Peter Parker and if they keep some of the additions the original Spider-Man movie made (like the organic webshooters and Mary Jane being the love interest from the start instead of Gwen Stacy) but I hope they don’t use the Green Goblin for the villain in the first movie again as that would be a terrible move – and when he finally does make an appearance I hope he doesn’t look like a reject from the Power Rangers!
Of course, there is another reason for all of this. Raimi and the studio couldn’t agree about the fourth movie’s script. Raimi, apparently, wanted Dr Kurt Connors to become the Lizard and be one of the villains and then there was talk of the Vulture being played by John Malkovich which was quite a good casting choice if you ask me.
But then more and more characters and villains were being mentioned, someone said that the Vulture was going to be controlling a 10 foot tall Avatar-like version of himself, etc. Who was to blame for all of this? The writers? Sam Raimi? The studio? Who the hell knows! We probably never will.
But, with Raimi deciding to leave the project Sony had a choice – either reboot or carry on with what they had. They had a reboot script ready, so that’s what they’ve gone with. Does mean that Spidey may now be able interact with Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk or Captain America, or any of the other characters that Marvel are currently converting into movies. After all, in the continuity set out by the Sam Raimi movies this wouldn’t have been possible, but starting again from scratch there is always the possibility that we could see some crossing over of other Marvel characters. Of course, that would depend on all of the studios involved with making each individual characters movie with Marvel Studios, but we can hope, right?
Whats interesting in all of this is that James Vanderbilt, who has written the reboot screenplay for Sony, is the guy responsible for the original draft of Spider-Man 4 – and also gave us the screenplay for Zodiac – but the shooting screenplay for Spider-Man 4 was provided by David Lindsay-Abaire, who gave us Inkheart and Robots, and Gary Ross, who was responsible for Lassie, Seabiscuit and Pleasantville.
I know who I’d rather have writing the script!
The only thing that really worries me is the comparison to Batman Begins which seems to have been made on some sites – we don’t need a “grim and gritty” Spidey. Sure, ground him in a realistic world but don’t lose his sense of fun!
And as for it’s too soon……technically it isn’t. Spider-Man 3 was released in 2007. By the time the new Spider-Man (The Amazing Spider-Man perhaps?) movie lands in 2012 that’s a gap of five years – which is only three years less than the gap between Batman & Robin and Batman Begins.
Until any more concrete information is released all we are left with now are the rumours about casting and directors for the reboot. So who would you like to see filling the webbed boots?
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5 Responses to “SPIDER-MAN 4 Cancelled. Time To Reboot Say Sony”
This is a blessing. A BLESSING. Spider-Man 4 would have been an absolute piece of shit and you guys know it. Thank God this is done. Tobey Maguire is a joyless performer, he sucks as Peter Parker, and a dead dog would do a better job. Clean house, Sony!
If Raimi had stayed and just went a long with what Sony wanted in the film like Spider-Man 3, then yeah it would have been another compromised mess of a film. Now if Raimi would have been able to run free with it like Spider-Man 2, then it most likely would have been a great film.
Rebooting it back to high school is a pretty bad idea, most likely being as a way of getting more of the tween crowd (dollars to donuts, they’ll cast a pretty boy in the role of Parker). I wouldn’t mind this if it was more of a continuation – a new trilogy, with a vague connection to the prior one. A new creative team and cast moving forward with the story not backwards.
Also Gareth, the song and dance routine is one of the best things in the Spider-Man 3, that and the whole “evil” Parker montage. Those are things that you’d have probably seen in the silver age comic, and again greatness on celluloid.
Spider-Man 3 isn’t a horrible movie, it’s quite middling which is what’s frustrating with it. Because the elements are there, they just don’t connect.
True, it is something straight out of the silver age, but I just really didn’t like it.
Maybe that was more to do with the fact that the elements of Spider-Man 3 just didn’t really gel togeather as much as they could so it felt out of place to me. I don’t know.
Kristina – I disagree about Maguire. I actually quite liked him as Peter Parker, it was Spider-Man where I had most of my problems with him. As for Spider-Man 4 being shit….if, as Grundy said, the studio let Raimi do what he wanted then it had the potential to be quite good.
There were disquieting rumours, like Felica Hardy not being Black Cat but being a brand new character called “Vulturess” or the Vulture controlling an Avatar-alike version of himself, but I’m really not sure if they were the studio’s ideas or Raimi’s.
As far as I knew, Raimi wanted to finish the story of Dr Kurt Connors and finally gives us The Lizard as the villain, giving a nice counterpoint to the hero/villain relationship, but the studio didn’t want him to be the main villain of the piece.
Unfortunately, it’s in the past now. All we have to look forward to is the future and the hope that a reboot can work and we don’t end up with a movie that effectively kills the character in film for the foreseeable future.
The more I think about them sending Parker back to school, the more I’m thinking they’re going to be heading more into the Ultimate Spider-Man kind of territory, but if that’s going to be a good thing or not remains to be seen.
I’m going to stay open minded until director/stars are announced. I’m hoping they actually cast someone who not only looks the part but can act as well rather than just the latest teenie heartthrob (Robert Pattinson as Peter Parker? *shudder*) but we’ll just have to wait for now.
Rebooting it to high school to capitalise on the ‘Twilight’ crowd (in 3D!) is exactly what Sony are all about, that way even if it sucks they’ll still be laughing all the way to the bank.
I’d like to have seen Raimi & Co given a chance to redeem themselves for SM3, the Lizard could have been great. Really don’t want to see a reboot that wastes half the film explaining his origin yet again, fingers crossed they’ll at least handle it like in the Hulk reboot.
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