If you haven't heard, Spider-Man 4 is dead. Sam Raimi was returning as director, along with Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst to complete another film in the very successful series, set to be released next summer. It was to be a triumphant return to what made the film series so great, and was to have shamed the "ok" Spider-Man 3. But now it is dead and the studio, Sony, has decided to go reboot and start over with a new director and a new cast.The inception, development, and death or life of film projects is fascinating stuff to me. As anybody in the film business will tell you, a film's journey from concept to completion is a long, hard fought, road that nine times out of ten will kill a project before it even goes in front of a camera. The thing that is so unusual in this Spider-Man 4 scenario is that usually when a property is rebooted it's because the series has gone stale. Rebooting is a great way to take an old property and to infuse it with new blood and talent to bring something fresh to the table.
Batman is probably the most well known successful rebooting of a series. There were four Batman films, which over the 8 years it was active, slowly became worse and worse. At the end of the run with the release of Batman and Robin, it had devolved into a loud, obnoxious, soul-less farce. Then along came Batman Begins which simultaneously told a story that hadn't been seen before, but also dramatically altered the tone of the series and lifted Batman out of the cinematic dumps. The release of the Dark Knight proved that the concept of rebooting was a viable solution to "fix" a series. More recently, Star Trek was rebooted with a new cast in a fresh take by J.J. Abrams.
But why is Spider-Man deemed to be primed for a reboot? The series is one of the most successful and much-loved comic-book film adaptations ever made. It baffles me that this material needs to be told again. The first Spider-Man was an excellent example of an origin story. Am I going to have to watch Peter Parker learn his spidey senses AGAIN?! WHY?! It was done so well the first time. It isn't like this series was made 40 years ago, it was only 8 years ago!
It is very clear to me why this happened, even though I think it is a bonehead move on Sony's part. I'm going to explain what I think the perspectives are from all parties and try to and analyze the fallout.
CAST:The cast, it can be assumed, were locked down for a three-picture deal. Meaning, that for the 4th film, they were probably asking for a lot of money. And they are right to do so. They make up a huge chunk of what makes the films so successful. They were more or less obligated to make the others, and the fourth would have been them basically doing a favor to the property. The cast's return to the fourth outing, was also probably dependent on having Sam Raimi return as director. They know that in order for the newest film to be successful, with their involvement, they need the man who made the previous incarnations so good.
DIRECTOR:Sam Raimi, the director on all the Spider-Man films, wanted absolute control on this new Spider-Man. He learned a very important lesson with Spider-Man 3, on how much negative influence a domineering studio can have on a property. Spider-Man 3 had too many Chiefs and not enough Indians. The film is all over the place, chock filled with tons of plot points, villains, and emotional crossroads. Unfortunately they barely gelled together to form a cohesive film. Raimi wanted to come back again, to right the wrong done on Spider-Man 3. He wanted to deliver a great Spider-Man film once again (like he did with the amazing Spider-Man 2). In order for him to do that, he'd have to butt heads with the studio again as he did on 3. But this time, he wouldn't give in so easily, and he would fight harder to make the film he wanted to make.
STUDIO:Sony has a lucrative franchise with Spider-Man. The public loves all things Spidey. Another movie simply HAS to be made, they'd be idiots NOT to make another film. A fourth film in the current series seems the most obvious choice. They have a cast that wants to return and a director that wants to create the best film he can make. But here's the rub: The cast want a significant increase in pay, and the director has a very clear vision, which doesn't always line up with what the studio wants. Raimi wanted the Vulture as the villain, even going so far as to nearly cast John Malkovich in the role. The studio doesn't want an obscure villain like the Vulture, they want a villain more popular, that will appeal to the widest audience possible. It's understandable, they want to stack the deck in their favor; to make as much money as they can. But with a director that is now sticking to his guns, it makes it difficult for there to be any agreement between the two. Add to all this conflict, Sony will lose the rights to Spider-Man if they aren't actively making films. The rights would revert back to Marvel, now owned by Walt Disney.
So what will Sony decide? The best choice for them is to can Raimi, in doing so, losing the cast thus making any continuance of the current storyline impossible. Their answer: to reboot and start over from scratch. They save money on the cast because now they can negotiate new contracts with new talent, and they don't have to worry about a headstrong director. It is the smartest move from a fiscal perspective, but from a film-goer and fan's perspective, it is utterly baffling.
Spider-Man 4 would have been a guaranteed hit regardless of who the villain was. And although it would have cost them more money in the end to make THAT film, it still would have been a sound investment. But now, with a presumed lower budget, they'll be able to have larger returns, which in the end is the bottom line for a large studio like Sony.
I hope that this new path they are starting down, will end in failure. Not for Spider-Man, and certainly not for whoever moves in to try and direct it (good luck to them in following Raimi's footsteps). I want it to fail so that the rights can revert back to Marvel. I want Spider-Man to go home to its owners so they may use him in the Marvel universe films that they are currently cobbling together. Who knows, maybe Disney will fork over some of their cash to buy Spidey back. I have a feeling that the longer Spider-Man remains in Sony's hands, the worse off we will be.
The one bit of good news to come from this debacle is that Raimi will now be able to focus 100% on his next announced project: a live action Warcraft movie.
For the Horde!
Sphere: Related Content
No comments:
Post a Comment