Deadline Hollywood is reporting that, after months of delays and reports of disagreements between the studio and writer/director Sam Raimi, Sony Pictures has decided to kill Spider-Man 4 and reboot the entire film franchise.
For months there have been reports that there were serious disagreements between Sony and Sam Raimi over the direction and content of the proposed fourth Spider-Man film. It was reported that Raimi wanted to feature The Vulture as the main villain and Sony wanted a more contemporary (and one would imagine a perceived "cooler") villain. If you recall, there was a similar disagreement between Raimi and the studio over Spider-Man 3 which resulted in Venom being shoe horned into the film, pushing Sandman to the background. It would seem that Sam Raimi, like myself, is a fan of the classic Spider-Man villains and Sony isn't. Was this difference in Spider-Man philosophy the final nail in the coffin of the fourth film?
Personally, I'm somewhat excited by this news. I think the Spider-Man film franchise needs a shot in the arm after that terrible third film and with actors who have grown to old for their parts. My only piece of unsolicited advice to the filmmakers would be to not retell the Spider-Man origin in the first film. As much of a fan as I am of origins and retelling them for new generations and new audiences and with new ideas, I think we're too close to the first film. They need to take the same tack that Incredible Hulk did and get the origin out of the way in the opening credits. Or maybe they should go the Ultimate Spider-Man route and focus on Spider-Man in high school.
Whatever happens, there are a lot of interesting possibilities laid out before us, assuming that Sony brings in talented people to craft the next film.
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Great news. Tobey and Dunst are too old now.
Good. Always hated Dunst in that role.
I’m all for it…I wasn’t really a fan of Tobey and Dunst as Peter & MJ and the rumors for 4 didn’t sound very promising either. I like the taking it back to high school idea. They have excellent source material in Ultimate Spider-Man. So we’ll see.
I wanted the chance for Rami and Maguire to redeem themselves after the mess that was Spider-Man 3. I guess they’ll never get that chance now.
Bring on Patrick Fugit!
I liked the third Spidey movie:~( It seems I’m the only one(besides my girlfriend)
My complete apathy about this news shows how much damage the last film and all of the studio suits managed to wreak upon the franchise. At this point I don’t really care if they ever make another Spidey flick. The only thing that would pull me out of this funk is if Marvel got the rights back from Sony.
I agree with the anti-TobeyDunst sentiment. Hoping they’ll tap a comic writer for at least one of the drafts.
just do a venom movie… wicked sweet
Word is that the new films will focus more on high school Peter Parker.
http://io9.com/5445808/spider+man-going-back-to-high-school-raimis-spider+man-4-officially-scrapped
I’m excited. Spider-Man 3 was terribly forgettable and this new direction sounds really good.
@PaulMontgomery good call on Fugit, but you know that they want either some Twilight type hunk, or Michael Cera(which could work) Hopefully we get a high school Spidey, no origin story.
Is anyone getting burned out on comic book movies? I think I may be at my limit here quick. 2010, 2011 and 2012 is going to be crazy, Iron Man 2, The Avenagers, Spider-man 4, Green Lantern, Thor, Captain America, X-Men First Class, Wolverine 2, possible Ghost Rider and FF reboot and probably another Batman movie.
@flakbait, they have to keep making them or sooner or later the rights revert to Marvel, happened to Hulk
FUGIT!
@drtiehead Oh please NO Michael Cera as Spider-Man… that just sounds terrible.
As for getting burnt out? Nope! But I’m not going to see Wolverine, Ghost Rider or FF 🙂 I’d also be shocked if there’s a new Batman movie in 2012
im down
I’m all for this ending up being based on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
Spider-Man Begins anyone?
but i am bummed about the vulture hopefully we might get to see doc ock again
You know… I hate being one of those "fantasy baseball" fans, but…
I think they should bring on Brian Michael Bendis to do the script. He’d be great for it, and I, for one, would like to see a clean break from the Raimi-era. I don’t even like Spider-Man all that much, and even I can acknowledge the greatness of his run on Ultimate Spider-Man.
-J.
Lame, loved what Raimi did with the first two, and it seems like he’s off because he wanted to make this a good movie, and felt that they weren’t allowing him enough time…..
In other news, a few years ago, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Alyson Hannigan would be perfect as Peter and MJ, IMO
This could be wonderful. As good as the Spidey movies ended up being, there are not two actors in them that I would have cast if I ruled the world. Every single person is wrong for his/her part except J.K. Simmons. (Ironically enough, I thought Topher Grace would make a good Peter.)
At the same time, it sounds like they’re firing Raimi in favor of a more compliant director who’ll lie down and give them their Carnage movie. I don’t need the Spidey version of Transformers.
Also: Paul, Fugit is a brilliant call.
How long until Sony’s rights expire?
@patio: I don’t know the details of their particular deal, but the way that many film licensing deals work is that as long as they keep making films in a specified amount of time between films, the rights can go on indefinitely.
I think Brian Singer is available!
I have mixed feelings about this as I just read that John Malkovich has said he’s playing the Vulture in the Raimi Spider-Man 4. Maybe they could make two movies.
I want Neil Patrick Harris to be cast.
As everyone.
I want Rami’s Spiderman not Sony’s unless the reboot is the movie version of Ultimate Spider-man or the Spectacular Spiderman animated series
While I’m not opposed to a reboot, so long as the entire first movie isn’t an origin movie, I worry about who they may want to cast as the lead. Here’s hoping they go with a young actor who can actually act, and not just the latest teen heart-throb like Zac Efron. Ugh.
I like the idea of doing ultimate spider-man. Or how about JMS doing a screenplay.
Maybe now We’ll get a movie called The Amazing Spider-Man. This could be really good news….if they get the right talent. We’ll see.
Time for Kraven!!!
@gobo not saying he’s my first, second or third choice, but you no some where in the halls of Sony some on is lobbying for him as Parker. It’s Hollywood.
@cgpo Efron is probably getting tossed around too, and whoever the hell the oldest Jonas brother is.
The more I think about the more I get pissed about it. Raimi is the reason Spider-man 1 and 2 are awesome. Hollywood dipshits are the reason that 3 sucked so bad. (Raimi had Vemon forced on him) Could it be great, yes but somehow I doubt it.
Let Bendis write it!!!!!!!!!!!
I know this would never happen: but if anything, Spider-Man 3 showed me that Topher Grace and Bryce Dallas Howard would have made a WAY better Peter & Mary-Jane than the other two. I just hope whoever they cast as Pete is actually funny.
Honestly I’m surprised. I dont’ feel one bad film (which I actually enjoyed)) should mean a reboot. The fact that Raimi stood his ground on this one to make a film with a quality script doesn’t make me think this reboot with be thus (though I’d love to be wrong of course, and we’ll see what happens). I can understand recasting, perhaps McGuire ws getting up in age, but I’d like to see this series continue on and see where Parker goes. I want another Spider-man film, but this is odd, since the original this series isn’t like the Batman one where it’s been long dormant, and the majority of the 3 films are good to great. So I guess we’ll see.
Give it to Neil Bolmkamp.
I can understand hitting reset on the cast but getting rid of Raimi is IMO a horrible idea. I am willing to put all of the crappy parts of Spider-man 3 (except maybe the dance scene) at the feet of the studio. If Raimi isn’t doing the directing you are gonna have a hard time gettin me to see this.
Also…The problem is, it sounds like (or at least what got out to the public) that the fight between studio and Raimi came down to giving the film a good story and classic characters (Raimi) vs. Making it "Cool" (studio). So don’t be surprised if one of the Fast and the Furious or dance movie directors takes over.
It looks like Tobey walked away with Raimi when the studio was pushing him to make a movie he didn’t want to make. If that’s the case then good for him.
It doesn’t bode well for a new movie though. I agree with @Jimski in that we don’t need the Transformers version of Spider-Man. I’m sure Shia would be available though.
I don’t see why you need MJ in the damned thing to begin with anyway. Why not give Gwen Stacy a go. Sure, every comic fan knows how that ends up but why not play with tragedy. Who says this stuff needs to be all happy fun-time smiles anyway? And maybe don’t start him off with Green Goblin as the bad guy.
And do you do another origin story? Can you get away with assumed knowledged on a reboot or do you have to retread everything that Spider-Man 1 did? As stated above by others you could easily do something like The Incredible Hulk (and also what Spider-Man 2 did) and put the origin into the opening title sequence then just jump straight in.
I do not envy the guy they give this to. Unless it’s Brett Ratner in which case I hope it all explodes in his stupid face.
It will be crap as long as Sony is involved and so much is at stake. Can’t amke a good super hero film once to many suits get involved. See Spiderman 3, X 3 and Wolverine (1st half great last half a disaster…hey let’s give him ALL the powers!.) I thought SpiderMan was good but a litle slow, 2 was better but no as good as everyone made it out to be a 3 was middling to bad. This reboot will be TERRIBLE. Now Kick Ass on the other hand will be, well….KICK ASS.
I’m really excited that Marvel studios will be producing it, that could mean that the Spider Trust and Bendis can work on the film and the script, which would produce some extradorinary stuff I think! Plus, more money to Marvel, which I think in the end will make us all happier with the comics we buy.
@conor: I agree, Spidey in high school seems like a good idea. The last two films were terrible. I would like to see a whole new direction for the film franchise. The question now is who will write, direct, and produce the film(s)?
I think this will prove to be a colossal mistake on Sony’s part. Granted Spidey 3 was a crap-fest but most due to other people’s imput and not listening to Raimi. I wanted to see them rebound and do part 4 right and sadly we’ll never see it.
Thanks to Batman and Star Trek Hollywood now wants to reboot everything, good grief!
As much as I would love to see Spidey 4 to be made (apparently John Malkovich was a strong rumor for being the Vulture) but yeah it has to be done.
The third film pretty much destroyed any hope for this series to stay at a great quality. The actors aren’t into it anymore and nether is the studio. Shame to see Raimi go but it’s all for the best. I actually agree with a jab at the USM take on Spider-Man. Might appeal to an even bigger audience.
@SummerSleep Marvel isn’t producing Spider-Man. It is still very much Sony’s movie.
It’s really easy to attack Sony but there are some things you have to remember.
They’re a business and they are out to make money. Don’t blame Sony for wanting to make movies that have more mass appeal, blame the dim-witted sub-humans who made Transformers 2 a massive hit. If a studio can put shit out and make that much money why would anyone else want to do any less?
They were brave enough to give Sam Raimi the Spider-Man franchise in the first place so you have to give them some credit for that.
@reg5000: That’s true. But I believe the people running the studio that were brave enough to give Raimi the Spider-man films are no longer the people running "Sony". It’s often the problem with the studio system. People get switched in and out so quickly that one studio heads’ passion project becomes another persons "What are we spending money on? Get that twilight kid, he’s hot right now!"
FUCK!!! This means no more Bruce Campbell cameo!
Fortunatly, this is the only thing Im really upset about, though Im very suprised at this extreme turn the studios are doing.
The first 2 movies were great, I do hope they do this well. I think the studio stepping on the directors toes says that the 4th movie will be built by committee and they tend to suck when that happens. You need a singular vision or things start getting muddled.
Also, I know Bendis is pining to write a treatment for Spider-Man, so hopefully the studios will tap him for it!
How could there be a reboot? The franchise just started less than a decade ago. They were able to do that with the Hulk franchise since the film had been horribly done and there was really no fan connection to the film, but the first two movies were good.
How about a Ben Reilly movie?
I was hoping for Bruce Campbell as Kraven in Spidey 4.
I don’t want the origin retold but I would love Gwen Stacy in the mix as Petes true love. Kraven should be the villian. That classic stuff is killer!
But who would play Mephisto?
@cromulent Joe Quesada?
@patio Haha! STFU!
I’m more then okay with a reboot if it’s done correctly, but (and here’s the sticking point) Raimi sounded really penitent of SM3. He practically admitted it was a travesty at some point. So if he was back in the saddle and interested in making a decent-to-great Spider-movie ala 1 or (mama) 2, then I have little hope that whatever lesser-man can carve something of artist integrity amongst the sharks.
Aaannd I just realize they’ll be recasting J.K. Simmons, and now I’m really depressed.
The image accompanying this article is such a great choice! This site is the best!
It’s gotta be mysterio. I think Bendis has shown a great way to do it too.
From what I have read it is going to be more like the Ultimate Spider – Man then anything. Which is great and all, but I am really worried about how they are going to handle this situation. It is pretty obvious that Sony has some "big" ideas, not good ideas on this property. I feel bad for Sam Raimi because he has a love for the character that was seen in Spidey 1 and 2, but once the villains were no longer his choice it headed downhill. I think that he wanted to go back to his one villain big idea type movie that touched on what it means to be Spider – Man. Sony wanted a villain fest and we know how that goes, Batman and Robin anyone? So lets hope they give Bendis a shot at the script and see where it goes.
Much as I’m sad to see Raimi not attached to this franchise any more, I’m always up for a re-boot if it’s in capable hands. Sony just needs to understand that we cannot be force fed these characters (Venom, Carnage, etc.) if they’re not given the proper build. You can definitely tell Raimi was not happy squeezing Venom into SM3 and it showed in the finished product.
Different, interesting tid-bits here http://www.joblo.com/the-spider-man-reboot-round-up
This is god news for me. I liked the first when it came out but don’t think it holds up at all if you watch it now; and I really disliked the second from the first time I watched it. Never saw the third but heard it was terrible. I like Spider-Man so it will be nice to see him get a proper treatment from someone else. Now if we can only get a X-Men reboot!
Ugh, not excited by this decision. Sony should have learned their lesson from the third film. I also wanted to see Raimi and Tobey redeem themselves (Kirsten Dunst meh). I’m really disappointed now. Especially when I don’t have high hopes for this reboot with how Sony are handling things. If Sony are as heavy handed with the new director as they were with Raimi, I just predict more Spider-Man 3 or X-Men 3 shit.
Damn you Sony!
So, Entertainment Weekly is saying Sony wants Spiderman to go a more grim n’ gritty direction, ala Batman Begins. Which is dense/retarded, because Spiderman ain’t the goshdarn Batman.
…Though come to think of it I would totally pay money to see a Frank Miller-helmed Spiderman.
Also, a friend suggested Jesse Eisenberg for Peter Parker – pretty perfect casting in my mind.
@ato
I looove mysterio! My Fave spider villian! It would be really cool to see him well done.
I actually enjoyed Spider-Man 3. The way it played out on screen, Sandman felt more forced than Venom did.
I would’ve liked to see Raimi have a chance at redeeming the third film like he wanted to, but at least he’ll always have Spider-Man 2 on his resume. I still think SM2, along with Dark Knight, is the best comic book movie out there.
i just hope it’s not dark and gritty. maybe not as light as part 3 got with the dancing but it needs to be light as far as peter goes
Bummer
This is what Mr. Raimi and crew deserve for what they did in Spider-Man 3. I’ve never been a big fan of Spider-Man in any incarnation, but the third movie was one of the worst big budget films I have ever seen (as is X3).
I respect Mr. Raimi and what he has done, but he deserved to lose his gravy train after what he did with 3.
@stuclach: I realize that Spider – Man 3 was a stink fest, but you have to realize that he lost his gravy train because he did not want the 4th movie to head the same route that the 3rd did. With a different villan than what he had imagined, which in turn changes the story totally. Think if Raimi did not have to use Venom in 3, we lose the whole Emo Parker scene and most of what people did not care for in that movie. So I am bummed out that Sony will not allow him to go back to these characters and give us something more like Spider Man 2 then what we may be getting with this reboot.
I’m not convinced that Spider-Man 3 would have done that much better at the box office had Raimi had his way.
Harry Potter is the only recent movie recent franchise to have succeeded in making more than 3 sequels and that has more to do with the source material (Correct me if I’m wrong here….and no, Medea doesn’t count).
For Sony, a Spidey reboot was inevitable. They did the math and concluded (and rightfully so in my opinion) that more people would see "Amazing Spider-Man" with a new cast than Spider-Man 4 with the returning ensemble.
I’m curious to know what Sony’s expectations are of a Spidey reboot movie. Are they expecting the same box office as the first Spider-Man movie or one of its sequels? Obviously it will depend on the budget but on a slow entertainment news day, I think Sony can say they’re off to a good start.
Wow I had no idea. Tobey was just talking about doing another one on Jimmy kimmel the other night. Gotta say im kinda bummed out about this. I hope they get good people to replace them atleast.
I think It’s too bad that Sony, and this goes for all film companies, have too much control. Let the artists be creative! Sony already made it hard on Sam Raimi at the third Spidey and now they do it all over again. But this also bring new chances. If it’s going to be about Peter Parker in high school then they should take a good look at Ultimate Spider-Man and the fantastic TV series The spectacular Spider-Man.
i think we all need to realize that the problem with 3 wasn’t venom. the problem with 3 was that raimi took peter and made turned him into something stupid. the black suit should make him more aggresive but it shouldn’t make him dance and comb his hair different. when he flopped his hair in front of his eye i almost walked out. none of the emo peter stuff made sense and gwen was a waste of time as well.
I don’t know why movie makers feel they have to rewrite the comic books to make a good movie. The stories are classic for a reason. Stick to the comic book storyline!!!!
Malkovich would have been "AMAZING" as the vulture. Would love to have seen that. Seems to me it was time to take on the Lizard as Dr. Connors made a cameo in at least one of the films. Guess not.
If I had my way though, the next film would feature Arcade and Shocker. Shock me dammit!
So…the folks that forced Raimi to include Venom have now run him off and will reboot the franchise? Maguire was good, didn’t care much for Dunst as MJ, but Raimi had an artistic vision for the first two films that will be missed. I’m more than a little worried by this. Hopefully they will get actors and a director who have a strong vision of their own. Time will tell.
The fact that Spider-Man 3 made a bucket load of money would have been the first thing on Sony’s mind when making this decision.
Raimi: I don’t want Carnage in Spider-Man 4. He’s a bad character and people don’t like him.
Sony: You said the same thing about Venom and Spider-Man 3 made more money than the first two.
Raimi: Yes, but it was critically panned. You can’t do this twice in a row. People will rebel.
Sony: Five words. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Raimi: *shaking fists and shouting into the air* BAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@reg5000: You know…..That totally seems possible.
@TNC: Doesn’t it just. I just wish the Western world was a little bit more discerning about the movies we watch. When a piece of shit like X3 does more money than X1 and X2 then Fox has no reason to go back to making good films.
I think the only reason they won’t pull a Warners and wait almost a decade between films, ala Batman, is that Sony can’t afford it. I bet Sony wishes they could wait longer than they can so people can get more of the taste of the last film out of their mouth.
On one hand this sucks. 1 & 2 were great and I think the director and cast were still ideal.
On the other hand, if the studio were going to force nonsense on Raimi like they did with 3 and not let him make the movie he wanted to make then maybe he is better off gone and I can just happily ignore the new movie when they hire ‘generic teen heartthrob no. 3’ and McG…
Those are some short pants.
I remember renting Spider-man and Star Wars Episode 2 from the video store at the same time. It’s always left a bad taste in my mouth.
@forestjwp – If Spider-Man 3 was beyond Mr. Raimi’s control then I withdraw my comment. However, regardless of the circumstances, he cannot avoid taking some of the blame.
i remember reading somewhere that bruce campbell was going to apper as mysterio.