Spiderman 4 was pushing for a potential summer 2011 release when director Sam Rami dropped out due to creative differences and time constraints. Star Tobey Maguire soon followed, and the studio is going to move forward with the tried and true “reboot” concept and an entirely new cast. Why pay huge star salaries when all you need is some attractive, relatively unknown faces and a concept that appeals to 14 year-old boys? It makes no difference if the film is decent or not as long as stuff gets blown up. Just look at the Transformers movies.
A few days after script issues pushed it off the May 2011 calendar, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today that Spider-Man 4 ain’t gonna happen at all, and that the franchise will eventually reboot featuring Peter Parker as a teenager.
Meaning original principals Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, as well as Spider-Man 1-3 director Sam Raimi, are out.
“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, [producers] Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin on this new beginning,” said Sony Pictures cochair Amy Pascal.
“Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me,” added Raimi. “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.”
Maguire had told E! News in November that he expected to start shooting his fourth Spidey film in February or March.
There’s no official word as to how exactly the project came unspun, but Raimi had reportedly been unsatisfied about the current state of the screenplay by Alvin Sargent, the third writer brought on by Sony to tackle the storyline.
The Spider-Man saga is currently slated to begin again in summer 2012.
[From E! Online]
The good news is that we won’t have to see Kirsten Dunst reprise her role as the unlikely love interest. There was news that Anne Hathaway might replace her, but it’s doubtful that the studio will go with such a big name. The bad news is that sexy villain James Franco won’t be back. He has a lot of films coming out, including Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts so it’s not like he’s going to fade from view and have to rely on his soap opera career as a backup. Tobey Maguire has three films coming out and a whopping 13 films listed in development. Ten to one he’s relieved that he’ll no longer have to play Peter Parker. It’s a boatload of money, but the guy would surely rather be doing something else.
I agree, why pay these actors such high salaries when what matters is the storyline and the special effects? Teenagers don’t care who the actors are, most of them don’t even know their names.
I think it could succeed. The Spiderman franchise is more about what he does when he’s masked than when he’s Peter Parker, so I don’t think it would suffer if they changed the actor.
In contrast, if you look at the Twilight franchise, if they were to try to replace Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, the entire Twilight Fandom would revolt and the world would end. 😉
Spiderman without James Franco. Meh.
Never really liked the spiderman movies because of Tobey Maguire. Can’t stand his face, like a hurt puppy. Always felt like screaming “Stop being so mushy & whiny. Be a man for crying out loud!You’re supposed to be super hero!”
Jeeeeez !!
Yes it can succeed:
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Adam West’s Batman – camp, but legendary.
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Michael Keaton’s Batman – fabulous Tim Burton re-imaginging; Kerching!
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Val Kilmer’s Batman – even more Kerching!
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George Clooney – hamstrung by nipples (do-over).
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Christian Bale’s Batman – fifth most successful film ever.
(And for the love of everything holy, Sam-Raimi-I’m-begging-you, can Kirsten Dunst die a horrible on-screen death?!! Free from having to rescue Mary-Jane every 5 minutes, Spiderman will be able to do his job a lot more efficiently…)
@Jayshawn: I think I might heart you! ITA with everything you wrote.
It took me seeing Christian Bale as the new Batman to forever erase the memory of the ‘porn star nipples’ and the ‘ridiculously anatomically improbable codpieces’ that was the George Clooney/Chris O’Donnell Batman/Robin costume travesty.
I think I am the only person that hates Christian Bale and despised The Dark Knight.
I liked Tobey as Spiderman, but like with any of these type movies, I always feel that there should be an expiration date on them. I think we have come to that with the Spiderman franchise.
Sounds to me like the studio called somebody’s bluff!! Raimi was insisting on “total control” and he didn’t want Anne Hathaway; plus he thought a 2011 release date was impossible. Now, everybody is out and there will be a whole new cast and story. I doubt anybody will notice. It’s just a cartoon, after all!!
No, you aren’t the only one who hates Christian Bale.
I used to think Keanu Reeves was a wooden actor. Next to Bale, Reeves is downright brilliant.
Yay!! No more Snaggle-Tooth.
I cannot stand Kirsten Dunst…Ugg.
@ firestarter, i dont hate Christian Bale BUT i was just like “meh” at his performance as all it was was just him walking around and sulking like a teenager. i hated batman begins and the only reason i loved the dark knight was because of Ledger(RIP), and its a tradegy he died.
@ Firestarter:
“I think I am the only person that hates Christian Bale and despised The Dark Knight.”
Yes you are 🙂
Kidding Firestarter. But I think Bale is good because he gets Batman. The character is Batman all the time and Bruce Wayne is his alter ego. He’s obsessed with justice to the point that he doesn’t have a “real” life.
With other masked heroes it’s the other way around. They put on the mask to be hero while the mask is his true face.
As for Spiderman, it’s time for a new one. Tobey was good but I don’t feel one way or another about his departure.
I’m sure Spiderman will go on for years. Look at how many guys have played Batman.
I would have refused to watch another spider man movie had they kept the original cast on. Tobey Maguire has the build and temperament of a wet rat. He’s lost any semblance of charisma and niceness that carried him through the first two. Kirsten Dunst….I really want to like her, so I don’t want to be mean. Has she ever been known for beauty? Really? If ever, those days are long, long gone. She has the puffy face and body of a girl who likes her vodka. Difficult to swallow her in the role.
As for James France, nothing too rigorous was ever expected of him. He did a good job of looking pretty and looking sad, confused, or angry when necessary.
In answer to your question: yes. Re: Maguire, this charisma vacuum’s career was always a mystery to me (besides marrying into the Meyer family, that is).
I still prefer the Michael Keaton/Tim Burton Batman movies to any other. They captured the camp-seriousness combo that any comic strip possesses. And though “Empire of the Sun” and Christian Bale’s performance in it are utterly wonderful, I’m not won over by him as an adult actor. His face is so creepily smooth and he sounds as if he has trouble chewing out his words (struggling with his American accent, maybe); he’s just uncomfortable to watch. This suited “American Psycho” perfectly, and I liked him in “The Prestige”, but that’s about it. He was ‘a natural’ as a kid actor, but seems too studied in adulthood. It’s all very Jon Lovitz “Acting!”.
Ally – I’m with you on the critique of Bale’s acting. While I love him in this role, as of late it seems like he lost something.
He was absolutely horrible in T4. He did not get the character of John Connor at all. Ironicly, I thought he played the character exactly like he played Batman — which is why it didn’t work.
Lately he seems very one note and Batman is the only role that his “tough guy” paint by the numbers work (there’s not a lot of emoting in the new Batman movies).
Nicholas Hammond (the TV Spidey) was more believable in the role. Tobey and Dunce never should’ve been cast in their roles.
Tobey’s not that great of an actor. Never really got into his character as Spiderman, I’m interested to see what they can pull off next. The the FX were what made the other Spidey films memorable, it wasn’t Maguire’s acting skills fo sho.
Whoa. He has really nice eyes.
@Iggles – You sound just like Bill in Kill Bull except he was talking about Superman.
While, I liked the campiness of these incarnations, I’m not the biggest fan of Toby or Kirsten. (I think the villans overshadowed them. And whomever said Spidey could do his job a lot better if he wasn’t constantly rescuing that vaipd “Actress” girlfriend of his is right on the money!) So I think a reboot could be a good idea, especially if it goes back to high school. But wasn’t Peter Parker bitten in college? Just please, for the love of all things holy, do not cast Zac Efron as Spidey Junior.
Probably an uninformed comment (so don’t hate me)but:
Wasn’t the character of Peter Parker a high school student / teenager at the start of the film series? So are they planning to start before he got his powers or just focus on the immediate time after he got them.
I’m not the target audience so that is probably why I don’t anticipate it doing well.
I don’t think this story is right… I thought Spiderman 4 was still going to be with Tobey, but there will be a reboot to the series that won’t actually be starting until 2012. I’d check this story.
I don’t get the hate for Dunst. I’ve liked her in everything I’ve seen with her (I think). thought she was good in the Virgin Suicides.
Big fan of Bale. Didn’t see him in Terminator though. Totally agree with Iggles re Batman/Wayne. But Jesus, his voice in the second one bugged the heck out of me.
ITA Firestarter except I have a different bone to pick..Bale RUINED Terminator for me and I loved that franchise. I just find him self-important and get the feeling that his ego is so larged he has to house it separately and who calls the cops on their Mother..seriously, who does that? Lilo needs to but doesn’t and if she doesn’t then nobody gets to.
Actually, his mother & sister called the cops on Bale, not the other way around. So, yes, I’m with you: Who calls the cops on their kid?
Especially considering for what they involved the police…
I love Christian Bale so much that if I ever got a-holt of him, they’d be scraping him off my ceiling. Yeah, I said it.
NOPE. no Spiderman without Tobey Maguire…