The Amazing Spider-Man "SPIDER-MAN 4 Production on Indefinite Hold "....NOT!...or Maybe?

[The Joker]

According to some rumours it seems Sony doesn't want Lizard either.

Where did you hear that?

 

[Spider-Man Luvr28]

This was posted over on Comicvine:

It was only a few weeks ago that we got wind of the news that the upcoming Spider-Man 4 movie was put on hold indefinitely, and while the big wigs at Sony did deny the rumors, the folks over at Deadline Hollywood reinforced this fact today after they released an e-mail that had been sent out to the Spider-Man visual effects crew on December 11th.


Hey there--
We were just notified that our schedule is pushing. We will NOT be starting as planned. I'm terribly sorry for this news, and I hope this email reaches you in time to find other options. We do not know how long we are pushing, and we will not know until mid-January. By mid-January, we will be told how long the push is, whether it be 2 weeks, 2 months, or something else. The studio has every intention of making the movie, but we no longer have a confirmed start date.
Again, I'm terribly sorry, but Sam Raimi has story issues [that] need to be resolved before we are ready to shoot.Feel free to call me if you have any questions.

VFX Team


According to the report by Deadline Hollywood, the primary conflict seems to be the disagreement between Director Raimi and Sony on what the primary villains should be in the upcoming Spider-Man movie. According to the article, Raimi wants to cast John Malkovich as 'The Vulture,' which we reported earlier.

 

[ultimatefan]

You know, having more than one villain isn´t always a bad thing. It worked for BB and TDK. Let Raimi have Vulture and add someone, maybe not Felicia, but a villain that can help make an exciting movie.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

Where did you hear that?

What does this mean for poor Dylan Baker, who’s patiently played Curt Connors in the last two installments? As much as it would seem that the series is setting up his eventual transformation into supervillain the Lizard, we hear that the suits simply can’t bring themselves to sign off on such an odd-looking enemy — instead, they’d rather hew closer to villains with a human face. Perhaps, then, it’s the best-case scenario for Baker: He gets to remain the subject of fanboy interest, but he doesn’t have to cede his role to a motion-captured reptile in a lab coat.

http://www.movieline.com/2009/12/exclusive-spider-man-4-circling-john-malkovich-anne-hathaway.php?page=2

This was also the report that broke the Malkovich casting. Their info definitely seems legit, at this point.

 

[Carlo Comicus]

After all, I think this is a good news.
It's the better solution.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

I've been arguing the case over at Screenrant (which ran the story). Screenrant's site owner Vic replied to me in the comments section: "This is NOT staff going on vacation being confused with troubled production. I was on the phone with someone today who got it first hand from TWO different sources directly involved with the production."

I messaged my own Sony contact with the story and they'd heard nothing about any indefinite hold.

Good job there, slick.

 

[zeptron]

What does this mean for poor Dylan Baker, who’s patiently played Curt Connors in the last two installments? As much as it would seem that the series is setting up his eventual transformation into supervillain the Lizard, we hear that the suits simply can’t bring themselves to sign off on such an odd-looking enemy — instead, they’d rather hew closer to villains with a human face. Perhaps, then, it’s the best-case scenario for Baker: He gets to remain the subject of fanboy interest, but he doesn’t have to cede his role to a motion-captured reptile in a lab coat.

Wait a minute. Our hero is a young adult superhuman that can climb walls and shoot webs from his wrist who battled a 100 ft Sandman and they're worried about the Lizard being odd-looking?

*bangs on screen* HELLOOOO?!

 

[Showtime]

I love how some websites are now coming out and saying that they knew this before but didn't run with it. Come on.

 

[The Spawn]

Rhino!

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

I love how some websites are now coming out and saying that they knew this before but didn't run with it. Come on.

Some (like Drew McWeeny) did. No doubt about that. Others? Hell no. One can only hope the morons who kept trolling on Comment sections on other sites will just crawl back into the hole they came from.

 

[zeptron]

You know, having more than one villain isn´t always a bad thing. It worked for BB and TDK. Let Raimi have Vulture and add someone, maybe not Felicia, but a villain that can help make an exciting movie.

Exactly. People always want to use the "SM3 had too many villains" excuse for not having more than one villain when the problem was how it was executed. Not just simply having more than one villain.

The sad thing is Raimi seemed to be actually listening to that silly complaint.

 

[The Spawn]

Raimi muffed up 3 on purpose.

 

[Road Warrior]

Not to sound like an a-hole or anything, but this is why no one takes fanboys seriously. One bad movie and everyone is on top of Raimi and wanting him to leave. The man is 2 out of 1 at the moment. Show him more respect. If he's having problems with the studio then back him up. So, he wants to use the Vulture. So what? You're thinking of comics Vulture. Maybe Raimi isn't. Remember when Catwoman was a simple cat thief? Then, Batman Returns was released and we saw an entirely different interpretation. One that even haters of the movie were in love with. Sam Raimi already made changes to Doc Ock and Sandman. So, it's obvious he's gonna make changes to Vulture as well. Give him a chance.

 

[ultimatefan]

It´s incredible how fast fanboys change their tune. When Bryan Singer did two great X-Men movies, he was God on Earth. When he upset a lot of fanboys with his SR, he suddenly was a no-talent hack.

And I don´t think Spider-Man 3 was that bad either.

 

[kguillou]

Spiderman 3 wasnt bad by any means, in fact if you look at it as just a movie instead of a superhero adaptation then its pretty good even. It just failed to adapt one spidey's greatest villains successfully.

That said, you cant really blame the fans for being wary of the Vulture. He doesnt have that same notoriety that Doc Ock, GG, Venom and even Sandman had, so its hard to become excited about a film centering around him. Again, i have faith in Raimi, but announcing Vulture as the film's main villain isn't a great way to build anticipation.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

After all, I think this is a good news.
It's the better solution.

Well, I don't know about this news being great if Sam and Sony can't come to terms.

 

[solidsnake86]

When sony released the statement saying that everything was fine it was obvious something was going on because why would they be doing damage control based on an article from a website that obviously no one cares to give credit too now. The signs were all there, starting with the script. Wasn't vanderbilt let go at one point and then they bring him back to pen 5 and 6.

It's funny that they can't agree on a villain because at this point they used all his well known ones. With spider-man 3 I understood why sony wanted venom, everyone wanted venom, now does it really matter who they choose.

 

[stillanerd]

So first we hear that Anne Hathaway might be playing Felicia Hardy who will be the "Vultress" instead of the Black Cat. Then we hear news that Mary Jane might end up getting "killed off" in the script due to Kristen Dunst possibly wanting to bow out. Now, it's confirmed that the production has been delayed due to Raimi and Sony clashing over the script. This is starting to sound like Spider-Man 3 all over again.

 

[Evil Twin]

.

This might be the perfect opportunity for Marvel to bump Thor to May 6th and position Captain America to make it impossible for Sony to position SM4 in a flexible summer 2011 date. Maybe force them to move to the following winter and take a cue from Avatar's BO. 2012 is too far for a sequel, they may as well start over if that's the case.

Please. Spider-Man is the 800 lb box office gorilla here. It opens whereever it wants to. Maybe they worry about Harry Potter or POTC, box office juggernauts too, but Marvel has a lot more to worry about their unproven franchises than Sony does about their proven box office juggernaut.

 

[Frodo]

I agree with the studio, the Vulture can't hold a film regardless of how good or bad Spiderman 3 was .Imo , the francise is running out of steam , and frankly, it's only natural.

As some one who's lived Burton/Schumacer Batman films, Superman films, etc I know that francises get tired and once you start hitting 3 and 4 it's pretty much bye bye time. There are exceptions of course like the Bond films and Star Trek, but that seems to be the trend.

Dafoe, Molina, Franco, and Graces characters are dead, They've had love triangles in every film, Sandman was let go but like Vulture is paper thin, They've rewritten what happen with uncle ben and even then I felt there wasn't a need to once again revisit the murder,The villans that are left leave little to be desired and the actors are getting old.

If they did indeed try to get Hathaway ,it doesn't suprise me that she would ask for a boat load of cash to star in Part 4 of anything. You also have to realize that between 2002 and say 2011, the francise will almost be 10 years old which is a long time .

Even if Spiderman 4 does get back on track I think it's clear the francise needs a revamp or reboot for a new generation. Yeah it's a hard thing to accept a francise you grew up with being tired, but I'm gonna be honest with you all and tell you I think this one pretty much is.

 

[Octoberist]

a new generation? The movies aren't even that old.

It's like rebooting Star Wars every 10 years, for each new generation.

 

[VenomVsSpidey]

Raimi muffed up 3 on purpose.

....yes...he did...

 

[spider-neil]

where did it all go wrong? I remember leaving the cinema after SM2 in the summer of '04 floating on a cloud and here I am not even 6 years later almost indifferent to the fate of the movie of my favorite ever superhero.

 

[Kanon]

Ok, this is a weird situation, and I'm not sure how I feel about the Vulture, or Black Cat... I can go with any or both of them...

But one thing I believe, is that Sony should just shut the **** up, and let Raimi do his thing... Spidey is the greatest business they have, and I don't think they can afford to lose Raimi. This is 2010, everybody will notice if they change director (or cast).

 

[kguillou]

The problem is the Spiderman movie franchise has made too much money for Sony so they intend on milking the cow dry. Sony wants at least three more sequels, they're trying to turn it into a film series like Harry Potter. Regardless of what anybody thought of SM3, it banked a TON of money, so Sony has no intention of ending the franchise anytime soon.