Technical Question on Contractual Issues

[JeanVitchier]

So not long ago, Spidey 4 was in the works, Raimi, his crew and cast were signed on right? If they had a contract to make the 4th movie, are they not bind to the contract? How do they get out of a contract?

[Kurt Wagner]

Simple. Contracts can expire if certain deadlines aren't met. I'm sure that what happened

[SpaceWay2009]

Sony wanted SM4 to be done by 2011, I believe, but Raimi said that he could not deliver a fine product of the movie in that short amount of time.

[Anno_Domini]

Raimi wanted his Spider-Man 4 to be released this year around the same time as The Amazing Spider-Man is released, but Sony wanted it to be released on Thor's release date. As Kurt Wagner said, contracts can be expired, but they can be broken during some liabilities.

[UltimateWebhead]

Originally Posted by JeanVitchier

So not long ago, Spidey 4 was in the works, Raimi, his crew and cast were signed on right? If they had a contract to make the 4th movie, are they not bind to the contract? How do they get out of a contract?

Like others have said a contract does have an overall expiration date. I don't think this was the case with SM4 though. Many contracts will have clauses installed in them, that allow either side of the contract to back out without incurring any sort of monetary penalties. THIS, "back out" clause WILL have an expiration date on it though and either party must decide before or on that specified date to break the contract to escape the fines (if any). Backing out after that date will usually end with someone owing some dues.

[roach]

or if you have a contract with someone..say I have a contract with WB...if we both decide not to do a film we could dissolve it