Raimi Wanted 'Spidey 4' to Be More Like 'Avatar'?

The fallout over Spider-Man 4 took an unusual turn on Friday, with New York Magazine reporting that its sources say Avatar is the reason the movie crashed on the shore. How do you figure? Read on. "Production insiders" tell the magazine that Sam Raimi become so enamored with the work James Cameron did with stereoscopic 3-D in Avatar that he pushed for Sony to make Spidey 4 using the same "envelope-pushing" technology. Sony balked because it would push back the schedule, which was already going to be a tight fit with the old May, 2011 release date. Sony, and toy partner Hasbro, were particularly ill at ease with the thought of a 60-year-old villain (John Malkovich) for merchandising and marketing purposes. But what kid wouldn't want a Malkovich action figure? And then there's the story, which just never got on track. So, keeping with the logic of this thread of the story, Sony felt Raimi's vision was wrong and the 3-D he wanted was too expensive. Seems plausible, and we know everything but the 3-D and possibly the merchandising angle aren't new developments here. "Every movie is a power struggle," an insider tells the magazine. "But the tipping point was that Sam wanted to do certain things that would push the envelope in terms of [special effects] and other visual stimulation, and Sony didn't feel that was essential to the franchise." The most curious thing about all of this is the relative ho-hum response the news has received from moviegoers. I don't know if Sony caught wind of that, as well, but it didn't seem like too many people were in love with the direction the film appeared to be headed, and most people I've talked to are kind of glad the fourth movie was shelved. The irony is that Sony was so married to May 2011 that Raimi couldn't possibly see the film he wanted to make meeting that deadline. The studio, conversely, didn't want the movie Raimi was determined to make (which one of New York's sources claims would have "torpedoed" the whole franchise) and now neither is getting what it wants. Raimi's gone and Sony will start fresh with Spider-Man, looking to reboot the franchise in summer 2012.

Comments

[J.Bradley]

To Sony - and maybe even fans - it's just "the fourth movie" and you don't do something "revolutionary" with "the fourth movie" - unless maybe it's some kind of big climax like say Harry Potter's two-movie climax. Watch. Now that they're "rebooting" it, they'll do it in 3D, Imax, all that stuff - anyway.

[Tjei]

Enough with the spiderman already! How about Nightman, Catman, and all those unknown mega-cheap but ultra-fun characters? Who knows, maybe it's time for them to bloom.