Spider-Man is Delayed over Script



Posted by on 06. 01. 2010in News Chat

Mid December we wrote a story about Spider-Man getting a delay because Raimi and Sony are in a heated battle about the direction Spiderman 4 should take. We were repeatedly fed a line that this was blown out of proportion and that the studios typically take a break around the Holidays and everything was fine with Spider-Man.

Well kids, the dust has settled and the Holidays are over, so lets get back to work. Nope… it seems that every word of the rumoured feud was right.

Spider-Man IS getting delayed over a dispute in direction.

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We wrote a few stories at the end of last year about Spider-Man 4 being put on hold because Sony and Sam Raimi were fighting about the script for the fourth movie. Sony wants another record-breaking blockbuster while Raimi wants to get “back to basics” and make a movie that everyone actually enjoys this time. Well, Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood has now confirmed that Spider-Man 4 is indeed on hold and it may not even make its May 2011 release date. “We will be extending the production hiatus on the film. The studio is firmly committed to this franchise but, for us, the script must come first.”

Even us wee peons here can see that this pissing match is not going to end well. Many of the fingers pointed at Spider-Man 3 were appropriately redirected at the studios as Raimi quietly turned his “I toldya so” face towards the powers that be reminding them that they forced their own vision on the film they PAID him to make.

He did fine with the first two with NO studio interference. And why would they? They trusted him with it, and he came up kings. The first two films were great and the fans loved them. It wasn’t until they made him do Venom (something he repeatedly said was not a good idea with the movie he already had) and he was heavily criticized for it.

Some people are happy to ignore his previous success and hang him from the flagpole for part 3, but we all know Raimi can do a great Spidey film. Sony just needs to get out of his way and just count all the money he makes them.

Apparently Raimi is waiting on yet another re-write of the script by Alvin Sargent who was involved with part 2 and 3, so I have half faith in him.

I wonder if the parts he disagrees with were the rumoured involvement of a Vulturess.

I can put up with a delay as long as it means a more cohesive film worthy of the first two.

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26 Responses to “Spider-Man is Delayed over Script”

  1. Matt Keith says:

    Its “Spider-Man 3″ all over again.

  2. matty says:

    Incomplete script? Didn’t stop them from making number 3 *boom boom!*

    I’m here all night, folks….

  3. andy says:

    As long as Sony don’t dispose of Raimi for someone else just so they can get there vision, then I am sure when they do finally go ahead it won’t be as bad as Spidey 3 even if it’s not exactly what Raimi would do if he has full control.

  4. James says:

    Jon Malkovitch is officially the Vulture according to IMDb

    And theyre thinking about naming it Spider-M4n instead of Spider-Man 4

    Isnt this fucker supposed to be INCHARGED of this movie???

    I tell you what- this would NEVER happen to Christopher Nolan.
    Nolan doesnt only dictate what his movies do to the last move… he dictates what OTHER MOVIES that have NOTHING to do with him

    He got pissed when JLA got another batman and he was one of the reasons why it was axed. That, my friends… is because Nolan isnt a pussy like Raimi.

    This is Nolan
    “So were thinking of making Robin a character in Bats 3″
    “Nope, youre fired”
    “..wha- im the WB owner..”
    “Nope, thats my job now. go home and fuck your wife before i do”

    This is Raimi (talking to the janitor that cleans the bathrooms over at the Sony headquarters):
    “Vulture will be the villain!”
    “Vulture is NOT going to be the villain”
    “Vulture wont be the villain!”

  5. Lawrence says:

    This impassse and delay on the Spiderman 4 flick is more and more like having too many cooks in the kitchen. I’d like to recommend a solution if the Sony/Columbia/Marvel Studios execs are reading this: Hire James Cameron to write and direct Spiderman 4, give him full blanket authority on this movie and get out of the way. Surely, he’ll make Spidey a billion dollar grosser like Avatar and Titanic did.

  6. David says:

    If they can’t decide then maybe it’s time to walk away and not make it at all. I’d rather see that then another piece of crap!

  7. Oh, alright.

    I wanted to believe that this was simply a holiday break. Didn’t we all? I crossed my fingers and hoped. If there were any script changes, at best, I thought it would be what an actor might suggest, or small, minor changes…

    Hopefully this won’t cause too much of a delay.

    Rodney thinks it could be due to the Vultress thing. There was a time where I thought that was misdirection. But it would make sense, seeing how it’s a established character who becomes a new one- and the “character” Sony supposedly wanted was “a character” who in two years “would be current”. The only way to guarantee such a thing is to make up or reinvent a character.

    I would not mind at all if the character of Felicia Hardy/Black Cat were introduced. The character doesn’t even have to be Black Cat just yet. Just like Curt Connors isn’t the Lizard yet. Ironically, if Brock hadn’t become Venom in 3, we may not have even had this problem.

    However it sounds like Alvin Sargent is doing more of a polish job to me.

    I have faith.

  8. GODFATHER says:

    What I fail to comprehend is why Sony thinks that a well made movie will not make any money. Why are good movies not synonymous with profitability?

    Spidey 1: $403 Mil (Dom) $821 (world)
    Spidey 2: $373 (Dom) $784 (world)
    Spidey 3: $336 (Dom) $891 (world)

    Now, depending on who they want to attract, I’m guessing that just going by the numbers, Sony might win the battle.

    • Rodney says:

      Spiderman3 got a lot of attention because they figured they could do no wrong. Even with the bad buzz, people went to see 3 in droves.

      They cant count on that with 4

      • James says:

        I respectfully disagree.

        A lot of the percentage of the people that watched Spiderman 3 repeatedly (like 5 times) dont write reviews that are put up on Rotten Tomatoes. Im talking about little kids.

        There were LOTS of little dudes in the theatre when i went to see SM3, my little brother HAD to go see it 3 times.

        If you put aside the crying and dancing (which was only 2 minutes) it was a very good film… at least thats what people saw. I mean a lot of people went to see it 2ce or 3 times.

  9. Andrew says:

    When I first saw Spider-Man 3, I hated it, but after a couple of more viewings of it, I thought it was one of those movies that grows on you. I think the reason I originally hated it was because I had overhyped myself for it. But then I watched it again with an open mind, and it actually turned out being very decent. (I still consider Transformers to be the best thing to come out of Summer 2007 though.)

    But after hearing this, I’m really not sure. Sure, I would like another Spider-Man movie, but at the same time, I would like one that lives up to the true spirit of Spider-Man like the first two films did. Hell, I rank Spider-Man 2 as one of my favorite sequels of all time along with Terminator 2, Revenge of the Fallen, The Dark Knight, Empire Strikes Back, Back to the Future Part II, The Karate Kid Part II, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

    But if Raimi’s not careful, Spider-Man 4 could easily end up being the next Batman and Robin. And if it’s going that way, a delay, or even the film being cancelled could be for the best.

  10. kingl says:

    Vulture would be cool. I remember a while back before he made 3, he wanted Vulture and Electro to be the villains. Don’t how Electro would fit in.

  11. jenn says:

    Hope they get someone good to play Black Cat

  12. Dragon says:

    He didnt want to do Venom and was told to do it and he did a half assed job of it for that – so being the director he has the power to make the movie he still wants based on what he puts into it. The venom Charcter is in no way in the Spidey world a second rated villian. He wants to be creative and go deep into character developemen. Again lets look at #3, who directed the sing and dance numbers – IDIOT – read a comc and keep it clean and true to ANY comic story line and you will have a winner. Get your own imagination out of it for once and stick you ego back in your pants. This is not a time for dick measuring and get a quality picture done. With The Dark Knight and now Avatar raising the bar a great deal from his lst efforts anything less would be bad for Sam in itself

  13. James says:

    Theyre going to kill MJ and make Black Cat Petes Girlfriend in 4, 5 and 6

  14. Lawrence says:

    I think the execs at Sony/Columbia Pictures want a darker Spiderman story, because it worked for The Dark Knight and would like to copy that type of feel for Spiderman 4. What do u think , Rodney?

  15. 420BAND says:

    “Nolan this and Nolan that” FUCK NOLAN!

    This is spidey not a Charles Bronson super-hero flick..

    Old school spidey is what works not McFarlane Spawn-Venom characters.

    the Classic Villans never let down and are what Stan Lee and others are still getting paid for CAUSE THEY WORK ALWAYS!

    lEAVE rAIMI ALONE ALREADY!

  16. MovieBuffintheBuff says:

    I would really like to see Venom given another chance. For me, he was the biggsest diaapointment in SM3, followed closely by the whole emo-Pete and dance scene bit.

    Now, dont get me wrong. Topher Grace is a GREAT actor to play Eddie Brock. He practically IS Brock. But that acting doesn’t and shouldnt move over to the Venom character. Sure, the suit drives Brock mad with power, but Venom is more of a… monster than a human. I mean… common. What happened to “HUNGGEEERRRRR”? Why the “You and I team up to defeat spiderman, bwahaha?”

    That all being said… I think Electro and Vulture are great choices. As much as I’d like to see Black Cat, I think she’d just be a massive excuse to play out the MJ/Pete romance problems that have been annoying the crap out of me since the franchise began.

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