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Who will wear the mask?
The January 11th news that Sony was scrapping Spider-Man 4 and rebooting the franchise following the departure of director Sam Raimi took nearly everyone by surprise. Even the title star of all three movies, Tobey Maguire, had updated the status of Spider-Man 4 only a few days before saying, "It's all happening right now. It's all sort of coming together."
In the wake of the news, numerous casting rumors have come bubbling up from the depths of the Internet. So far, none of them have proven to be credible. The latest news, coming out of an interview Billy Bush conducted with Logan Lerman for Access Hollywood, has the star of the upcoming movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in talks for the lead role of Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, in the rebooted franchise.
There have been a few discussions, it's definitely something I'm looking into.
It's just, you know, conversations are starting. It's a long process with the studio and the producers and everything. But it's definitely a project that I'm really interested in, of course. I'd love to focus on the human element a little bit more. It'd be such a fun experience.
Casting the 18-year-old in the lead seems to fit with Sony's decision to take the franchise back to Spider-Man's origin as a geeky high school student who initially abuses his new powers. However, no sooner had the Lerman story broke than popular comic book movie blog HeatVision attempted to debunk the news.
While a "wide net" is being cast, according to a studio spokesman, "No offers have been made, nor have any business discussions been made with Lerman."
The actor's camp also confirms no business discussions are being held at this time.
Admittedly, it does seem unlikely that the star of one burgeoning franchise would be offered the lead role in another. Then again, if it works for Ryan Reynolds with his Deadpool and Green Lantern roles, perhaps Lerman could do the same with Percy Jackson and Spider-Man.
Posted 02.05.10 by BrentJS -
The recent news that the release of Spider-Man 4 might be pushed back or even cancelled because of problems with the script generated a plethora of forum posts and blogs speculating about the problems in question. It also prompted Marvel Studios and Disney to move up the releases of Thor and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, respectively, to take advantage of the plum early summer slot.
If a recent MovieLine article can be believed, the problems with the Spider-Man 4 script are numerous. The article purports to contain excerpts of a leaked email sent by Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal to director Sam Raimi, in which she shreds the script apart, especially some of the racier elements.
pg. 25. Have we not explored "accidental web-slinging as obvious premature ejac" metaphor enough in three movies? Feeling a bit hack now. Esp when Aunt May walks in on him watching the YouTube clip of the Vulture attack. We get it, web = semen. Wrists = penises. Aunt = Oedipal mother figure. Ick. Not even sexy.
pg. 37. PG-13! PG-13! No nudity! Where is this coming from? And full-frontal? Maguire has total nevernude rider, he's not even working out this time (he's really porked up since starving himself for Brothers), we're CGI on everything below first chin. Definitely definitely no d*ck. CAA will f'cking kill me if they even ever see this page. TEAR OUT AND BURN.
In another, Pascal warns against using plot devices that are too similar to those inJames Cameron's Avatar.
pg. 56. OK. I KNOW we all had a conf call about how important Avatar is to our business. I GET it. But we're gonna get KILLED on the blogs with this Vulture nonsense. [John] Malkovich can't — CAN NOT — lie down in a pod, have his brain shoot thru a psychedelic tunnel, and then FLY out of his lair in the ten-foot-tall body of a blue vulture. NO. First of all, Isn't Vulture color scheme usually green? Second of all, NO. DERIVATIVE. Still think Iron Man-style armor with wings is way to go. Or Goblin gliders strapped to arms. Either/or. Both art concepts were solid.
If the email turns out to be true, then the script problems may prove insurmountable, no matter how many writers are brought in to tinker with it.
Posted 01.08.10 by BrentJS -
The ReelzChannel 100 began when we asked Leonard Maltin for his favorite Hidden Gems of the decade. His list led the web team into a general discussion about the best movies of the decade and — after no small amount of debate, arguing, and (we're not proud to say) some petty name-calling — we decided we'd better bring it to an end with a company-wide vote. Then it was just a matter of tallying up the votes and hoping for the best. Lucky for us, ReelzChannel is filled with a staff ranging from movie lovers to movie fanatics. What turned out isn't what you'll find on a critic's best of list — instead it's what movie fans really enjoyed.
In day seven of the ReelzChannel 100, we highlight the 10 Biggest Movie Disappointments of the Decade.
Posted 12.29.09 by reelz -
It was revealed in October that plans for a Venom movie spinning off of the Marvel Comics villain featured in Spider-Man 3 were moving forward, with Spider-Man 4 screenwriter Gary Ross doing rewrites and possibly directing the picture. Apparently, the spin-off will not involve the only actor to ever portray the popular comic book villain on the big screen, Topher Grace.
In a recent interview with MovieWeb, Grace seemed unsure of how to answer questions about the Venom movie. When asked if he was interested in returning to the role (even though his character apparently died at the end of Spider-Man 3), Grace said, "You know, I guess." He went on to say that he hadn't "heard anything" from Sony about the project. When asked to clarify whether or not he had any current plans to appear in a Venom spin-off, Grace conceded, "No, I don't think so."
Posted 12.21.09 by BrentJS -
Appearing on the final day of the 37th annual UBS Global Media & Communications Conference, Disney Co. president and CEO Bob Iger confidently defended Disney's recent acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel. While he admitted that the movie business "is more challenging" than it has been "in a long time," Iger cited Jon Favreau's success with the little-known character of Iron Man as an example of one of the "potential surprises" awaiting Disney in Marvel's huge collection of characters.
Iger said that Disney will be able to test market the appeal of characters through its Disney XD channel before committing vast amounts of money to the development of its next potential franchise. Iger also said that Disney is"just fine" with allowing Sony to keep the rights to produce Spider-Man movies, even though the character is Marvel's premiere superhero, citing Marvel's right to handle the licensing of the films.
Spider-Man 4 is currently slated to begin shooting in March. Director Sam Raimi is back at the helm, with Tobey Maguire reprising the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
Posted 12.12.09 by BrentJS -
When Bryce Dallas Howard replaced Rachel Lefevre as Victoria in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, it was her third franchise after Spider-Man and Terminator. However, whether Howard will appear in another Spider-Man or if another Terminator will ever get made is unknown. Howard told ComingSoon that returning for another Spider-Man is possible, even if she hasn't been contacted yet.
I mean, it was really made clear to me when we all did Spider-Man 3 that it was entirely possible that a character could come back or a character could not and this could be just a specific plot line to that film because there's so many stories in the comic book series and you want to pack as much in as possible so it's truly up to [director] Sam [Raimi], up to, you know, the writers and the people who have done such an amazing job protecting that franchise and choosing the best story lines for audiences and I'm a fan first.
Terminator Salvation director McG plans to make more Terminator movies, which is great news for Howard who would love to make another. It's just a matter of whether a sequel gets made.
I haven't signed anything that would obligate them to me or me to them or anything like that because it was ... that film was made with a lot of humility, you know, it's like we'll do this one the best that we can and if people ask for more then they ask for me. But, it's an incredible group. We are all fiercely committed to the story, I mean, it's Terminator for goodness sakes. So, yeah, if that comes about I would, you know ... and if I should be so lucky that they invite me back, I would be loathed to walk away from that.
Howard's next movie is the upcoming period piece The Loss of A Teardrop Diamond, which opens in limited release later this month. Howard makes her Twilight debut next summer, in what will likely be just the beginning for Howard's run in the Twilight franchise.
I don't want to give anything away, but there's – Victoria has a lifespan is what I'll say.
Posted 12.11.09 by Ryan -
Back in October, director Sam Raimi hinted that one of the next villains to face down Peter Parker in Spider-Man 4 might be Dr. Curt Connors, AKA "The Lizard." In response to an MTV fan poll that picked The Lizard, Raimi said:
I love the Lizard. There's a great story there in the Marvel comic books about Dr. Connors.
While Raimi's comments may not be an indication that The Lizard will feature prominently in Spider-Man 4, recent comments Tobey Maguire has made to MTV lend more weight to that possibility.
I'm more familiar with Lizard and Mysterio, and I don't know — I like them as villains. I think they're great, and Lizard obviously has a really personal relationship with Peter Parker, so we often will go towards that kind of stuff.
Production on Spider-Man 4 is slated to begin in March.
Posted 11.24.09 by BrentJS -
Variety reports that writer-director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) is in talks to direct and rewrite Venom, the movie spin-off of the Spider-Man 3 villain. Ross is currently working on a rewrite of Spider-Man 4, and clearly Sony is pleased with his progress. Ross will start work on Venom when he has finished Spider-Man 4.
Zombieland writers Rhettt Reese and Paul Wernick wrote two drafts of the screenplay, and recently stated that Marvel and the studio were taking their work and figuring out "the next step." Apparently, that next step is to have Ross rewrite their script.
No word on whether Topher Grace will return for Venom. Variety speculates that the role will be recast.
Venom is currently slated for a 2012 release.
Posted 10.08.09 by Ryan -
With the villains for Spider-Man 4 still a mystery, there's one former villain who wouldn't mind returning, and no it's not Willem Dafoe (who showed up in all three previous Spider-Man movies, in one way or another). Alfred Molina, who played Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2, told MTV he'd happily come back, though there might be a hurdle or two to climb before it's possible:
No one's mentioned it, and I think it's highly unlikely, seeing as he died.
Sure, Molina died, but death in the comic book universe has a way of not lasting forever:
At the Spider-Man 2 premiere in London, I turned around to one of the producers and said, "It's a real shame that I died, because I would've loved to do another one of these." And he said, "Oh, characters don't die in this universe, they just disappear."
Are there any favorites from Spidey's past that Molina can recommend before screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire turns in the script and Sony announces who they are?
The only thing I'd like to see is to concentrate on one villain. Having two or three of them sort of dilutes the potency of it.
After the villain overload of Spider-Man 3, fans would probably agree. However, only one villain would likely mean no Doc Ock, meaning no Alfred Molina.
Posted 06.16.09 by Ryan -
Lucy Gordon, the British actress and model best known for her role as Jennifer Dugan in Spider-Man 3, was found dead in her Paris apartment. Police have ordered an autopsy but are saying the death appears to be a suicide.
The actress' other films include Serendipity and Perfume. Gordon also plays the British singer and actress Jane Birkin in an upcoming biopic about Serge Gainsbourg.
In a statement to the press, her father, Richard Gordon, said:
She's always loved being on stage and in front of the camera and she has kept all her naturalness and charm all the way through. She has been the most beautiful daughter. We are obviously devastated.
Posted 05.21.09 by reelz