Thursday
23Oct2008
Sam Raimi Leaves More Movies Behind for 'Spider-Man'
Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 1:23PM
Earlier this week, we directed our ire at
Sam Raimi,
who had so proudly crowed about an upcoming
Evil Dead
sequel this summer only to switch positions on it later. (Our exact words were "Screw
Sam Raimi..."). So there's no Evil Dead in the near future, and now
there's no Tom Clancy movies, either.
"I love Tom Clancy, and I hope they’d keep me in mind, but because I’m committed to Spider-Man and making that picture, I think it’s going to knock me out of the running for the Jack Ryan picture," said Raimi. He also implied that Spidey and whatever new Jack Ryan movie Paramount wants to make will be shooting simultaneously, and if Raimi's word means anything now, that'll be March of 2010.
Would Sam I Am be the correct choice for Jack Ryan? I don't know. He's certainly a polished director and he gets the importance of telling a compelling story...if you don't count his last movie, that is. But I think what bothers me most is that Raimi was setting himself up to not just be "the director of Spider-Man," and now that he's doing two more of those, we might not ever see another Evil Dead, and it's doubtful we'll see what he can do with Jack Ryan.
And frankly, I'm tired of Spider-Man, from the bloated storylines to the actors. And while it was a great jump start for the genre back in 2002, I think it has been eclipsed in so many ways that two additional movies will drive that point home even more. So again I say, screw Sam Raimi. He should have moved on.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Evil Dead, Jack Ryan, Sam Raimi, Sequels, Spider-Man | Print Article | Email Article | 7 Comments | Share Article
Reader Comments (7)
Sam Raimi is dead...
Long live Sam Raimi.
Raimi has become a very good businessman indeed, by letting Sony know one thing: He has options. He doesn't need them. Why, he could do a-lot of things. Direct another Evil Dead for example. Or pick up where Affleck left off in the ever-so-lucrative Tom Clancy game.
But he, and Sony, and Marvel, and the World know that Spidey will make more money than both of those franchises combined.
Guess that's why he's not talking about "Another SImple Plan".
And now Marvel is pissed, because they want Spidey back in the fold for the "all roads lead to the Avengers" business model they adopted last year, and now, well...
They're f***ed.
This may also mean that it could be 20 years before we see a truly decent Spiderman movie.
But don't you think Spider-Man is kind of in an ebb position right now with comic book movies? The trend is darker and more physical. There's still room for it, of course, and they'll make money in the long run, but I think that kind of hero just pales in comparison to both Iron Man and Batman, to say nothing of how much cooler those two properties are in general.
I agree with you 100%. Spiderman is ready for re-invention. As a long-time fan of the character, I'm not entirely sure that this trilogy was the best thing for Spidey, cinematically. I wasn't a huge fan of the first movie, was dragged to see the second, and skipped the third all together.
However...
I guess these films have a wider appeal that I don't entirely understand.
Raimi is selling out, pure and simple. I think he has a kid in college or something. It doesn't mean that I agree with the decision to make Spiderman 4 and 5 as a continuation of the current on-screen Universe. It just means that I understand it.
I'm with you Colin. Screw Sam Raimi. On more levels than one.
I didn't make you go to see Spiderman 2, Wilson. You WANTED to go! Besides, you said that Doc Oc looked cool...like he was from The Matrix.
Don't EVEN get me started on the second two Matrix movies...Will!...
Where the eff did you even get that name Lost Wilson, anyway? Effing Gilligan's Island???