Plans for 'Spider-Man 4' Have Been Scrapped for Reboot Efforts
What will the fans think?
Nikki Finke is reporting quite the bit of breaking news saying Sony Pictures decided today to reboot the Spider-Man franchise after franchise director Sam Raimi pulled out of Spider-Man 4 because he felt he couldn't make its summer release date and keep the film's creative integrity. In case that's not clear enough it means Raimi and the cast, including Tobey Maguire are out.
Finke's new right hand man, Variety's Mike Fleming, learned the studio will focus on a reboot script by Jamie Vanderbilt with a new director and a new cast for 2012.
Finke's sources supplied her with the following quote attributed to Raimi saying, "I can't make your date. I can't go forward creatively. That's it."
Instead of replacing Raimi inside the same franchise Sony Pictures co-chairman Pascal and Columbia Pictures' Matt Tolmach decided on a reboot.
Personally this doesn't bother me much as my interest in the Spider-Man franchise has declined and declined. However, how will fans react? Fans loved Raimi's first two films and while they didn't much care for Spider-Man 3 the stories related to Raimi's displeasure with some of the story and villain choices for the third film maintained fan confidence. Now that he's out and Columbia seems to be using a script Raimi felt wasn't up to par I'm not sure how that will go over.
Everyone ready to learn about how Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man again… I hear it has something to do with a spider…
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no no no no no and NO! what the hell are they doing??
"Everyone ready to learn about how Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man again… I hear it has something to do with a spider…" B.B.
Actually, I heard it had something to do with puberty.
Zac Efron's agent is going to have a busy night.
A REBOOT?!?!?! This is the dumbest idea I ever heard! The original Spider-Man franchise was fine! Sure, Spider-Man 3 was a bit of a disappointment, but it’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed. I really don’t think I can picture a Spider-Man movie without Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire. If they can’t get Spider-Man 4 off the ground, then screw it. End the franchise. The public has already moved on to Batman and Iron Man anyway.
But to try to reboot the franchise? That can only end in a disappointment. The public is so attached to the original franchise that even if there is no Spider-Man movie until the inevitable remake 30-40 years down the road, we would still be better off than having a new “re-imagining” of a franchise that was fine to begin with. Why fix something when it’s not broken? If they can’t reassemble the original cast and director for Spider-Man 4, leave poor Peter Parker alone!
I would have expected better from Sony.
This is pretty stupid. How can they reboot a franchise that started less than 10 years ago! The first two movies are actually pretty good as well.
Sure, I understand that they think it will get them alot of money, but i just think it's too close to the original and people just won't be interested.
Has a reboot ever been done so close to an original before?
OMG this is sad. If Sony advance with a reboot, the next Spider-Man will bomb. is to soon for a reboot.
While it is too soon for a reebot, i would say as a huge comic book fan that the spider-man franchise was a complete failure. Anyone who reads comics would agree they ruined norman osborne and the green goblin and what he represents to spider-man as the man who killed the woman he loved. While they did a very good job with Doc Ock they did a miserable job with Sandman and Vemon, the third movie was more then dissapointing it was a complete bomb, yes spider-man was a financial success but that only describes the characters popularity. Spider-man has some great stories that actually would provide a good film not just some blockbuster. Just because Raimi thought Vanderbilts script wasn't up to par only speaks to his standards and when you reflect on his filmography i'm not that concerned, spider-man needs a real director and a real actor that can fully emoby his teenage turmoils not just some emo kid who wears eyeliner and does homages to saturday night fever. Lets face it spider-man 4 was going to suck, with Malchovich as the Vulture and replacing MJ with the Black Cat for future instalments, character development would be very very thin.
I agree with everyone else it is a bit soon for a reboot.
When it comes down to it spider-man is a true comming of age story which was never fully realized on screen
Anyone think that Joseph Gordon Levitt is too old to be Peter Parker? I don't.
I don't think Columbia are planning on using the script Raimi rejected – I understand it's a new one from the writer of Zodiac of all things.
Deeply disappointed though. Raimi can be amazing when he's given enough leeway.
@Colin: he would be an amazing peter parker! wow i cannot believe i never thought of that
@garym
Lol! You stole my comment! I was going to say "zac efron and miley cyrus's agents are probably very busy at the moment."
God that would be a crappy spider-man.
i remember when James Cameron wanted to do the film in the 90's with a young di caprio, that would have been fun
@maja: incredible hulk and punisher were rebooted very fast
@Arjuna: True, although both originals were considered box office failures that didn't warrant building a franchise on. Spiderman 1 was a huge hit (both financially and critically) which makes it all the more strange to reboot it.
Can we please drop the 'reboot' phrase when it comes to comic franchises. When Schumacher took over from Burton with Batman, nobody was saying it was a reboot. With movies like this it's only natural for different talent to come and go. Spider-Man, and all the other major heroes that fill the screens, aren't going anywhere.
We've had a Raimi Spider-Man trilogy and now we'll probably get something completely different. It's fine and it's how these franchises work. So honestly, enough with the 'reboot' this and the 'reboot' that. Reboot would be fine it it was Raimi and Maguire saying they wanted to start from scratch and retell the origin story or something.
All this is is another filmmaker coming on board to tell more stories in the Spidey universe. Reboot is the biggest mis-used word in Hollywood right now.
One more thing. What will happen when Christopher Nolan, and probably Christian Bale, step away from Batman after the next film. Will people be saying a reboot of the franchise is in the works?
Come on people.
god just don't do another spider-man film….problem solved
@Darren: He wrote the first draft of Spider-Man 4, Jamie Vanderbilt, which is mentioned in the article above. That's the "new" script you heard of.
@Brad Brevet: yea but i doubt the script used for the reboot would be the same being considered for spider-man 4, unless its general villains because i would assume a new origin story would be much differen from what he would have written for the 4th movie.
on a different note, many may disagree with me on face value but based on the comic books Justin Long would be an amazing Peter Parker, very funny and sarcastic, just like the character
*Crosses off a movie from my must-see list*
Whoa, that's a shocker! Didn't see that one coming.
It's KINDA too bad, because Spider-Man 1 & 2 were good (but very overrated) and the series doesn't need a reboot (dear God, reboots are becoming more stupid than remakes imo!!).
However, Spider-Man 3 was one of the biggest letdowns in comic book history so maybe it's good to start fresh?
We'll have to wait and see.
I was hoping that Spider-Man 4 could turn out to be good, since Raimi is a good director. I was more confident about it than for YET ANOTHER reboot. =/
I guarentee this won't be an origin story. Think Batman Forever or Incredible Hulk. It just won't reference the other films. Both a reboot and a sequel without being either.
@Arjuna: I bet it will be, I wouldn't be surprised if this is less an origin story and more a new start under the assumption most people already know what's going on. Like others have mentioned, sort of how the origin of the Hulk was taken care of in the credits of The Incredible Hulk.
Of course, I now know just as much as you so we are both sort of in the dark.
@Joe: You're right, people are using the word 'reboot' way too much these days. But if they decide to start over the Spider-Man story, from his teenage years like the first movie, this WILL BE a reboot.
Batman Begins is a reboot. Casino Royale too. And Star Trek. They all have this in common, starting over.
Batman Forever was not a reboot because it didn't started the story over, it could be a sequel if you wanted to be – it didn't used any element from the previous movies and looked absolutely diferent, but storywise it could work!
Same for The Incredible Hulk.
Lets just hope they dont turn it into Twilights with web shooters
which brings back the point, spider-man is suppose to have webshooters to show that he's a teenage science prodigy ala tony stark, not some organic genetic webbing
I can't believe this… btw i never thought Spiderman 3 was that horrible, but i'm 100% sure haters will now say the movie wasn't that bad just for the sake of hating Sony!
sorry for spamming but i just realized NO MORE KIRSTEN DUNST! thats a dream come true!
also the only reason a new franchise in 2012 would even be viable is because they will most likely make it as a 3-D movie, if they license Cameron's technology it would be one hell of a spectacle.
This is so retarted. It is the worst thing they could do,
YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!
This is awful.
I was personally expecting just a delay, but it's still no surprise to me that we wouldn't have seen Spider-Man 4 in May 2011.
I'm all for upholding a director's vision, but Sam Raimi is puzzling me when it comes to picking bad guys for these movies.
Didn't he despise the idea of having Venom in #3? Why? Venom is arguably the most interesting and tenacious bad guy in the Spidey universe.
And now he went to bat for Vulture? Isn't he an old guy in a bird costume? I don't know if I wanna see that. How about some Mysterio or Carnage or even Lizard? Why go straight to the bottom of the barrel?
I hate to say it, but I think Sony did the right thing.
WOW THAT SUCKS!! Tobey Maquire is one of my favorite actors! I guess we won't be seeing much of him anymore!
I would push back the release date if I was with Sony. Even if they push it back one more year, you still have Maguire and Rami on board and probably a great film as well. The series doesn`t even need a reboot, it will be weird seing a completly new cast from something that`s not even a decade old.
@Brad Brevet: from something called the Geek Files, I found this:
James Vanderbilt had written the first draft of Spider-Man 4 but Raimi hadn't embraced his ideas and the studio instead asked the writer to turn them into Spider-Man 5 and 6, which would probably have served as a reboot of the series. That plan has now been brought forward, with Vanderbilt's ideas becoming the fourth film instead.
Also, how long does Sony own Spidey before the rights go back to Marvel/Disney?
@Matt B.: I believe as long as they keep making films Sony keeps the rights, and after a trip around the internet I can't find anything to the contrary.
I have not enjoyed any of the Spider-Man films so I am glad they are rebooting it. Sure it's soon, but it makes no difference to me. I did not enjoy the first two, and the third I was literally laughing at in the theater. I agree with the above poster who said that Joseph Gordon Levitt would be an interesting choice.
I wonder if Marvel realizes that other superheroes exist. Rebooting this is a waste of everyone's time. No one wants to see the same story again.
They should get Jared Leto to play spidey.
tobey maguire sucked at PP anyways. Get someone with acting skills
This could have a bright side, it would be cool if this "reboot" becames another side of spider-man's universe, you know what i mean, the are a lot of side histories to take over, if we can take another kind of spiderman comic, why not another actor? in the right hands, this could be great
1% interest becomes 0 for Spiderman. @Joe: WB should just let Zack Snyder go crazy with Frank Miller's Batman. You get a new joker story and you don't lose audience members loyal to Bale and Ledger.
Well the first three did seem to "close up" one story. Personally I found 3 to easily be the best. What i hope is they keep the level of excitment up, and have spider-man be an adult. But hopefully they'll make it involve the awesome lizard or something. We don't need another green goblin movie. Lizard dammit!
A reboot though? I'm not sure what they are thinking here…leaving a super-successful franchise in the dumpster is dumb on their part. Though perhaps somebody less dorky can play Spider-Man…
@Seiko: spider-man is suppose to be the super dork, i vote Gordon Levitt or Justin Long
I agree with the people that said Joseph Gordon-Levitt, though. Hugh Dancy might be a good choice as well.
goddamm 47 comments already!!! im seriously late for this party. btw u dont reboot a movie that was so recently popular, lets wait another 10 years, im not so excited on seeing parker back in school.
Incredibly lame.
Reboots come sooner and sooner anymore. Avatar should be due for a reboot in . . . 5 minutes.
@Brian:
whats more annoying is the fact that, almost every comic book out there is getting made into a movie, and the comics book based movies that are incredibly recent in our memory are about to get a reboot ? i mean seriously WTF ? how about we invest our energy, talent and money in something more original ?
Can't say I'm disappointed. I'm a fan of both Maguire and Raimi, but a change of pace is something I'm not upset about.
I enjoyed the Spider-man movies, but I'm okay with them moving on (provided there's no origin retell). I'm curious about what they'll come up with for the next Spidey, but I'm actually excited to hear what Sam Raimi's next big project will be now. That World of Warcraft movie? Evil Dead 4? Something else entirely? I'm really looking forward to seeing what it will be.
As a big spider-man fan I dont mind this at all, although it would be nice if they waited a few years then did a well made reboot.
Way too soon to start over. Not much intrest in it. Unless the writer of Zodiac is penning the script but then I'd still need to know who will star and direct before I can decide on whether I would want to see it or not. But as it sits, in my opinion they're kicking a dead horse. Spider-man has been done. And done well for that matter. Just move on to something else. There is no need for a re-boot or a sequel. And I think Spider-man isn't dark enough for what people are wanting to see in a comic book movie now. The Dark Knight changed things for comics in film. I think people other than the die hard fans want something more mature. And they could make a more mature, dark Spider-man in the spirit of The Dark Knight or Watchmen but it wouldn't be true to the comics.
Looked to me like raimi was going stale and ought
to take a break from the series for a movie or two so am glad
hes out but no confidence they will bother making a good film
Joseph Gordon Levitt – he never crossed my mind but now someones
said it. He sounds great !
WOW! Was not expecting to read this with my morning coffee. Personally, I'm glad to find out about the reboot. Raimi's series was seriously lacking in its 2007 edition. I'm a huge fan of Venom, and even I was unimpressed by Spider-Man 3.
Also, before people get all riled up, remember a reboot doesn't always mean a new "origin" story. The Incredible Hulk saw a "reboot" last year but it wasn't an origin story. Bryan Singer rebooted the Superman franchise but again, NOT AN ORIGIN STORY.
I'm ready for the new Spider-Man. As for the new script? It's gotta go.
@maja: The only one I can remember is "Hulk" in 2003 being rebooted into "The Incredible Hulk" in 2008 (5 years later). What a coincidence that the only other one done so close is also a Marvel property…