Today, a scoop is circulating via Cinematical that possibly spells the fate of the lucrative Spider-Man franchise. It was already known that screenwriter James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Rundown) was working on the script for Spider-Man 4, but apparently he’s turned in a draft to Sony/Columbia that allows a Spider-Man 5 to be shot simultaneously. According to the “super delegate Hollywood insider” tipster…
“[Vanderbilt's] story arc has encompassed two films, making Spider-Man 5 shootable at the same time. The studio saw dollar signs and is in the process of reworking his deal to snatch up the story arc.”
Not much else was dished at this time, but if true, this is obviously a major development for the series. Would Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Raimi be up to shooting two Spidey flicks back to back? Only their bank accounts can probably answer that one, but in the meantime, what do you think the future holds as far as talent and continuation with the prior three flicks? More on this as it develops…
Discuss: After the busy and dizzying kitchen sink that was Spider-Man 3, is a juggling act with Spider-Man 4 and 5 the way to go?Â
May 16th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I was so horribly disappointed by SpiderMan 3 that I just can’t get excited about this. Any word on the potential villians/plot?
May 16th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I hate myself for saying this, but maybe a new director would be best at this point? Sam certainly created his own problems in 3 with his hatred of Venom.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
i think the people ‘horribly dissappointed’ by spider-man 3 were spoilt by the magnificence of the previous film, it’s only real flaws were venom and spidey letting sandman go. otherwise it was a very good film.
that said, i want them to leave this franchise alone for a while. marvel studios should focus on its minor properties and possibly branch out into television…heroes for hire would make a great series.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
man I loved Spider-Man 3 I am sorry but I thought it was the ONLY way you could have venom in the live-action film and I loved that it used 3 totally different villain archetypes
GG2 - inherited power
Sandman - misunderstood Frankenstein monster
Venom - pure evil
It is my personal favorite of the three films even though I think they are equal in quality
now when it comes to filming these two back-2-back I’m totally for it
but I kind of want a new cast so it can be kind of separate from the other three without ignoring the continuity
May 16th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
If Harry Potter can shot back to back why can’t Spider-man.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
hopefully more bruce campbell!
May 16th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
More ludicrous dancing sequences! Worst. Spider-Man. Ever.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
The Spider-man series died at #3. You could see the series tiring out. I doubt any writer could resurrect the Spider-man at this point.
Just make Iron Man 2 with Favreau directing instead.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
lol iron-man is not the same studio man; so there is no “instead”.
and also the dancing sequence is awesome - I like how nobody complained about the “raindrops” sequence in 2 since it showed the Peter Parker nerdy side of spider-man but when they have a musical dance sequence to show the feeling of “cool” that the black suit gives Spider-man everyone shits on it. oh wait no I don’t like that.
You guys nitpick way to much - one scene you dislike does not make a movie complete and utter trash.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Sorry, I just couldn’t get past the church scene: “Please God, kill Peter Parker.”
or the Expository Mess that was Venom and GG2 meeting up:
“You hate Spider-Man, I hate Spider-Man. Let’s team up.”
They tried to put too much story in one movie and nothing worked. You don’t need 3 villains in a movie sequel to make it work.
It didn’t work in the Batman sequels; it didn’t work here.
Sorry, but Spidey is dead to me.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Joe Newman….please leave.
SP3 was one of the worst superhero movies ever made. PERIOD.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Remake Spider-Man one, and make the Green Goblin cool.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
So, since Marvel is flying solo these days and Columbia Pictures did the other movie…is Marvel taking over the new Spider Man films?
May 16th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Oh dear God. Back to back?
*Starts Time Machine*
*Goes back to 1988*
Back to the Future II & III will be released back-to-back.
*Starts Time Machine*
*Comes back to 2008*
*Watches emo-Parker dance scene*
*Let’s loose twenty years of vomit*
May 16th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
@ duca
I read that the villan was going to be Sam Raimi. The only reason I saw SM3 was because somebody else bought my ticket and even then I couldn’t believe I was there. Even when movies suck I can usually find at least one redeeming quality in it that I like and that was just not so with SM3. Not even Thomas Haden Church could save it.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
The films were ruined by Raimi from the start anyway. I want a reboot in another 5 years from now. Not a continuation. The only good parts of those films were seeing him swing around.
The third film was both confusing and hilarious at the same time. Between Spider-Man fighting The Mummy, Harry - The Killer Xbox, and the “dude” from That 70’s Show in a muscle suit. I wasn’t sure if it was the actual film or a prank by Raimi. In the end, Raimi got me good either way.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I think Spider-Man 3 was just trying too hard to please everyone, you know? I personally think they should have cut out the Gwen Stacey bull crap and Sandman all together. There were so many different plot elements/villinas/emotional issues going on that it completely lost track of the ‘fun’ of the first film. And the ending? OMG it just made me angry. The way they dealt with Venom was a total cope out. He’s one of the most important anti-hero/villians in Spider-Man and THAT’S how they treat him?! So wrong on so many levels.
@Joe Newman
I personally loved the Dancing in the Rain scene in Spider-Man 2. It reminded us all just how simple and happy and dorky Peter Parker always was. :) However, the dancing scene in Spider-Man 3… ummm… I’m sorry, but that wasn’t ‘cool’ it was sad. That whole sequence was just cheese cheese cheese!!! Peter Parker does not act like that. It just didn’t fit for the charactor or the movie.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I think that Spider-Man 3 was a different league from Spider-Man 1 and 2. I didn’t like it as a continuation of the Spider-Man plot, but all on it’s own there are enough redeemable qualities for me to enjoy it.
As the first person to comment said - other than knowing that 4 and 5 are being made - we’d need to know more before we began cringing or drooling about the idea.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
hmmmm
spidey 3 was defo the worst
mainly because venom was over shadowed, they shuda save tht whole arc for a seperate film of its own…but they dint soo lol
tbh i’d quite like to see this whole 2 parter film cud eb a cud end to the series
maybe bring bk micheal clarke duncan as kingpin??
May 16th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I have to agree with the fact Spidey3 sucked big time. They rushed the project from the look of things and of course Venom was reluctantly added to the mix. The villain is basically one of the biggest fan favorites and was only in the movie and killed off in all of 20mins. That would be like in the first movie you never see Spider-man till the last minutes of the movie and then a bank robber shoots Spidey in the head. I think they need to switch the casting management and let Marvel do their thing. I personally think it’s time they either kill off Mary Jane or replace Dunst. Her vapid acting skills are dragging down the whole franchise. From what I remember from the comics and cartoons, wasn’t MJ like this unattainable beauty. Not a plain Jane hippie which Dunst is.
I just think it’s enough with the teasing of the Dr. Connors aka The Lizard use him in a film already. Other villains they really should include should be Rhino, Tombstone and Morpheus … I’d love to see the Sinister Six in Spidey5 which would have the return of Sandman and Doc Oc. Along with newbies which could be introduced in both in Spidey4-5 Kraven The Hunter, Vulture, Electro and Mysterio. There were rumors of Bruce Campbell playing Myseterio and that was actually interesting. Bruce is known for his hero and antihero roles, so playing a villain would be a nice change.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Morbius*
May 16th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I wish Marvel Studios had control over Spidey because they’d do it better than Sony and Raimi could. Iron Man was way too good. Imagine if Spidey was done as well…it would be total cake. Maybe Sony can partner with Marvel Studios on 4 and 5?? That would open the door for Hulk and/or Iron Man cameos and all kinds of comic booky goodness. They could make 10 sequels if they implement large scale storylines and tons of cameos that come out of nowhere. Just think of the possibilities…thousands of storylines and characters converted to the big screen…that is where its at, and I’m sure where Marvel Studios is headed.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Number 3 sucked so bad that i could care less about 4 or 5. it ruined the franchise for me
May 16th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I say no to this i will never recover from spider-man 3 it was to much a dissapoment and the oney reason they want to do this is for money i think they soud leave spider-man as it and soney soud give there spider-man rites to mravle so they can do a advengers movies because that woud be kick ass
May 17th, 2008 at 1:36 am
@ Joe Newman
Its from Marvel anyway. Paramount distributed Iron Man and Sony produced/distributed Spider-man. I just think Marvel should focus their attention on their other franchises.
I didn’t have a problem with the jazzy-dance sequence on Spider-man 3. The reason the movie sucked like Jaws:The Revenge was because it felt like two-three movies compressed into one. The movie was overdone and tacky and bottom line it was the script.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:17 am
eh oh well i see your points and opinions cept for that guy who told me to leave?
anyway its atleast without a doubt the best 3rd superhero movie because
fuck x3 and superman 3
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
The best third superhero movie?! compared to x3 & superman 3? Well, so in ur POV,some of these movies (which i think are 10 times better than spidey 3): Batman Begins, Batman’89, Superman the movie, X2. Iron Man, Spidey 2 are worse than Spidey 3? lol
u’re a funny guy, JOE NEWMAN, don’t leave..
Well, I hope that someday, SPIDEY movie franchise will be owned by Marvel Studios. IMO, an origin restart a la Nolan’s Batman would be a great take for this franchise. I cant wait to see a funnier and younger Parker like Ditko’s or the ultimate one, not like that not so funny lame old Maguire guy, Spidey should be a TEENager at the beginning, not a 26 years old man. Raimi missed the big potentials of the comic’s supporting characters that can never be told in future RAIMI SPIDEY UNIVERSE: Flash Thompson should’ve had a bigger role in Peter’s live, Flash-Liz Allan-Peter-Betty Brant-Ned Leeds love triangleS, Gwen Stacy as girlfriend (there’s no way for the movie’S gwen to have a serious relationship with peter since his true love is that dunst’s MJ), her iconic death (since it had been taken by MJ in a not so iconic way), MaryJane”the party animal” Watson, Peter’s avoiding to meet her as in Ditko’s, her “FACE IT TIGER..” Raimi had used the greatest villains from the beginning and killed them -not good for a long franchise since the villains for the sequels will not be as great as their predessors. I like the villain’s direction of Nolan in Batman. the only way to fix these out is a TOTAL REBOOT! Isn’t it great if Spidey share his universe with Avengers in marvel studios?
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I love “Spider-Man 3″ since it’s the only way to see (a pure evil) Venom in live action. = I love “Batman & Robin” since it’s the only way to see (a coldheart psychotic) Mr. Freeze in live action = I love “Fantastic Four 2″ since it’s the only way to see (an invincible horn helmed giant) Galactus in live action = I love “Ghost Rider” since it’s the only way to see (a scary & good dialogued) Ghost Rider in live action = I love “Supergirl” since it’s the only way to see (a sexy, full actioned) Supergirl in live action =I love “Spawn” since it’s the only way to see (a cool) Spawn in live action = I love Hasselhoff’s Nick Fury since it’s the only way to see that (closer to comic book) white Nick Fury in live action = hmmm… I love 90’s JLA pilot since it’s the only way to see (the superheroic, unsilly, cool costumed , deserved to be watchd) JLA in live action,… whew.. I give up.. I give up.. Yyyakkhh, i can’t believe i can rmmber all those $#!t$
June 17th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
You guys all suck. What the hell was so bad about Spider-Man 3? You can’t blame Raimi for directing a movie HE DIDN’T WRITE. Idiots. Also, the whole too many villains thing is dumb. Think about it: do you think a whole movie of Spider-Man vs Sandman would actually be good? No. Do you think a whole movie of Spider-Man vs New Goblin would actually be good? No. Do you think a whole movie of Spider-Man vs Venom would actually be good? No (at least no the first encounter between them.) Spider-Man 4 and 5 ARE GOING TO HAPPEN whether you people like it or not. You’re not going to convince a huge movie studio to turn down a $300, 000, 000 opening weekend. So shut up and try to enjoy a movie that is made entirely for YOU.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:01 am
id either like to see morbius and the scorpion for the upcoming flicks and maybe get a bit of a hint about CARNAGE!!!!!!!!!
June 18th, 2008 at 7:04 am
oh and by the way Chris Mclellan your right.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
But didnt Raimi and his brother write the script?
July 14th, 2008 at 6:09 am
I wish they would just stick to the comics. Choose a decent comic run and create the movie without changing a thing. The people who go to see super hero movies are huge fans of the charector in the books. When the history is changed or even a small event in their lives is changed the charector that everyone loves is changed. When they change things they basicly create their own charector and use the super heros name to get people to watch.