website tracking
Search The Big Picture


« Weekend Recap: 'District 9,' 'Avatar' Trailer News, Vampires Galore | Main | Ron Perlman: 'Bubba Nosferatu' Is Getting Close »
Monday
17Aug2009

James Vanderbilt Writing 'Spider-Man 5' and '6'

DateMonday, August 17, 2009 at 3:26AM
Even though his script for Spider-Man 4 was later revised and that revision also went under the knife, James Vanderbilt has been hired to write Spider-Man 5 and 6, which presumably would keep Tobey Maguire locked in a state of arrested development as a college-aged freelance photographer until he's 40.

Vanderbilt, whose adaptation of Zodiac rightly received an Oscar nomination, was the original writer for the upcoming Spidey flick, due in May 2011. And even though production on that film hasn't commenced, Marvel and Sony are pushing ahead with the two films that follow it, which reportedly have an interconnecting storyline. Of course, at a very basic level, they all do, don't they?

So how did a guy whose work wasn't good enough for the fourth film manage to to snag the next two? Well, apparently, Sam Raimi wasn't in love with Vanderbilt's draft for Spider-Man 4, so he passed it along to David Lindsay-Abaire. Now Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) is reworking that version of the screenplay. Sony, however, did like where Vanderbilt was headed, and welcomed him back to the franchise to essentially be the writer of record for the second half of the Spidey arc.

There are a few possible scenarios. The studio wasn't happy with Raimi's choice of a writer and are now wresting some control of the project away from him. That's the first option. If that's true, then would Raimi direct two more of these? I dare say he wasn't interested in the number three and have yet to see a great deal of passion about this installment. So whether or not there is something up behind the scenes, I wouldn't be surprised if Raimi left, anyway.

The second option is that Tobey Maguire is exerting a little muscle. He's now an executive producer on the Spider-Man series, and it doesn't take a detective to see that bringing in Gary Ross, with whom he's already worked twice. The writer-director and the star are also teaming up down the road for Tokyo Suckerpunch and The Crusaders. Perhaps Maguire didn't like where Lindsay-Abaire was coming from.

Option C: Sony just wants a great writer who already knows the basic blueprint for where everyone wants the story to wind up six movies in.

All three of those could be likely, I guess, but it's certainly worth raising an eyebrow over bringing a writer back into the fold not just so soon after his work was discarded but also so far ahead of when the fifth and sixth films would be anywhere near the production stage. What are we looking at, three years before that really gets going?

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

Anytime I hear about a "planned" trilogy, that usually means that too much time is spent during part one to set up things for the next movies, and being cutesy about it or trying to milk some big "reveal." So given the big mess that Spidey 3 turned out to be and the revolving door of writers on this one, I'm not really looking forward to this one at all.
Also, historically what was the last "part 4" in a series that didn't suck? I guess maybe Harry Potter, but that was an adaptation so doesn't really count.

Monday, August 17, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMRPigg

zodiac didnt get an oscar nod

Monday, August 17, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterNelson

Sorry...Writer's Guild nomination.

Monday, August 17, 2009 | Registered CommenterColin Boyd

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>