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'Spider-Man' film gets reboot; Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire out
Spider-Man is going to regress.The "Spider-Man" film franchise is getting a reboot, and this means a big shake-up for those involved in the first three films.
"Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits in the summer of 2012," reads a tweet from the official Sony Pictures Twitter account Monday (Jan. 11).
The post comes on the heels of Nikke Finke's story that "Spider-Man 4" has been scrapped, with director Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire out.
Apparently, the recent creative differences caused Raimi to have second thoughts about trying to abide by Sony's schedule. As Zap2it previously reported, the director and studio have been fighting over which villains to cast.
"Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me," said Raimi in a statement that was later issued by Sony. "While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job."
"A decade ago ... when we began, no one ever imagined that we would make history at the box-office and now we have a rare opportunity to make history once again with this franchise," said Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment. "Peter Parker as an ordinary young adult grappling with extraordinary powers has always been the foundation that has made this character so timeless and compelling for generations of fans. We're very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter's roots and we look forward to working once again with Marvel Studios, Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin on this new beginning."
The new film, aiming for a 2012 release, will be based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenage Peter Parker. Sony promises additional details in coming weeks as they prep for production.
Although loyal Raimi fans will be disappointed, going the reboot route has proved recently successful with the Batman and Star Trek franchise reboots.
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Photo credit: Sony Pictures
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Rebooting a franchise that was highly successful and whose last installment is less than five years old? I think not. This is a meltdown, not a reboot.
I wrote a full-lenth Spider-Man 4 screenplay - www.ifiwrotespiderman4.com
I've ben getting great feedback that this would have made an amazing Spidey sequel... it's loosly based on "Kraven's Last Hunt".
Looks like they're hoping for a Star Trek situation with a major reboot.
It won't be the same, Maquire is Peter Parker. The problem with the last one was like the Batman movies from the 90's. Too many villains and no real story line.
Sad to see this happen. Looks like it's another movie I won't be seeing.
well i guess its all over, we are getting a NBC version of spiderman
Reboot means Remake, seen it all before.
I have to agree with Hobgoblin. The reason why the Batman and Trek reboots worked so well is because both franchises had failed and were being revived. The Raimi/Maguire/Dunst Spider-Man on the other hand is one of the success stories of the '00s decade and was still a going concern. I didn't expect Maguire to stay with it too much longer, but I'd hoped to get at least one more film out of him. This won't go over well. I had a Jay Leno joke ready but "Oh No" beat me to it...
Lame. I'm not interested in this in the slightest! I wanna see a 4th movie not a frickin' reboot!
Best version of Spidey out ther is the cartoon The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Sony wants to erase the bad taste this whole debacle left in the mouths of fans and get a new successful franchise going? Hire the writers of this cartoon NOW!
Have Brian Michael Bendis write the script.
After Raimi somehow messed up the best villain in Spider-Man history (Venom), I am glad he got the boot.
Putting Parker back in high school though? They already did that with the first Spider-Man movie and that was less than 10 years ago. Hopefully Disney finds a way to get out of their contract with Sony and takes the film rights back from Sony (especially since Sony is refusing to let Spider-Man be used in The Avengers movie).