Something's Tingling, And It Ain't Raimi's Spidey Sense
By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (13)
Spider-Man 4 was originally scheduled to begin filming in February of this year in order to make a May 2011 release date. That’s not going to happen now on account of the minor problem of not having a script. Didn’t seem to stop them on the last one, and certainly didn’t stop the last couple of X-Men films, so I don’t really see what the big deal is.
In any case, the script has already gone through iterations by James Vanderbilt, David Lindsay-Abaire, and Gary Ross, the last of whom actually has a fairly decent screenwriting resume including The Tale of Despereaux, Seabiscuit, Pleasantville, and Big. Sam Raimi is apparently so unhappy with the script that production has been indefinitely delayed and the script shipped out to Alvin Sargent. After the last Spidey was less than well received, it makes sense that Raimi is being picky since that’s how franchises get put on hold and rebooted by someone else five years down the line.
The only problem is that Sargent is the guy who wrote the last two Spiderman films and just happens to be married to Laura Ziskin, who has a producer credit on all 4 Spiderman films. The guy who crapped out Spider-Man 3’s script and is being given a shot at writing Spider-Man 4 is married to a producer. Oh nepotism, is there any job you can’t get done with half the competence and twice the price?
I’ve got a theory that the decline of the franchise has very little to do with scripts. I mean, Casablanca was feverishly written as they shot the film, and Spider-Man has about 3000 comic books to pull plot, dialog and visuals from. Hell, they’ve got the equivalent of about a hundred movies already storyboarded out in the comics. No, the real reason for the decline is much simpler: no Roman numerals. “3” instead of “III”? “4” instead of “IV”? That’s like buying wine in a box. Nothing says a sequel has class like Roman numerals.
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Comments
Posted by: Fredo at January 6, 2010 9:27 AM
I might agree with that but Spider-Man 2 didn't have a Roman numeral behind it and it was, without a doubt, the best movie in that series.
Raimi wants to do classic Spidey villains and I say let him. He wants The Vulture? Do that. Elektro? Good. Kraven the Hunter? Sure. Mysterio?
Let's not get carried away.
Here's one way to help improve the movie: the villain attacks Grand Central Terminal and puts Mary-Jane in a coma. One she wakes up from 2 minutes before credits roll.