Sep 5, 2008 02:42 PM
6,707
Enter your username and password.
San Francisco, 11:51 PM
Tue Feb 9
25 posts in the last 24 hours
Not only is Spider-Man director Sam Raimi back in the web-slinging biz for both Spider-Man 4 and 5, but he's bringing his original Peter Parker, Tobey Maguire, back with him, according to insider blogger Nikki Finke. But has Raimi learned his lessons from Spider-Man 3? Early signs point to yes.
Nikki Finke reported that Maguire and Raimi will be returning to make Zodiac screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt's script of Spider-Man 4. Even a few weeks ago, Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal was talking about possible Maguire replacements with casting agents, becuase Maguire was holding out for more money.
Great, but what about the great mistake that was Kirsten Dunst? Finke claims that Sony would "never recast her" no matter what. But I say take a page from Dark Knight, and keep upgrading your girls. I'm expecting an even better actress in the next Batman.
As for the even bigger mistake of SM3, the effort to create a darker Peter Parker through musical comedy? It sounds as though the studio has learned an important lesson there. Spidey will be back in his original red and blue union suit. Writes Finke:
Gone is the black costume from Spidey 3, even though "dark" is all the rage in superhero movies right now given the enormous success of The Dark Knight. But I'm told the filmmakers won't be borrowing from the latest Batman installment because "Spider-Man is its own thing," one insider tells me. "Sam Raimi made the first serious superhero movie, and others followed. The difference between Spider-Man and Batman is that Batman is duelling with a dark side of himself, and that's not what Peter Parker's struggle is. Peter Parker has no dark side himself. In Spider-Man 3 it was the black costume. Peter Parker's struggle is about sacrifice."
In my opinion it's only a matter of time until all of those "Lizard is the next bad guy" rumors come true, but still there is plenty of speculation on who the new villain will be. And finally Sony is moving full steam ahead on the Venom spin-off flick, but still no word on whether or not Topher Grace is going to slip into his old Venom skin to star in the film.
[Nikki Finke Deadline Hollywood]
Send an email to Meredith, the author of this post, at meredith@io9.com.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
Start a new discussion