Spiderman 5&6 - Sony has ordered scripts

[Captain Craig]

With Spiderman 4 going through the normal pre-production Sony has decided to start thinking farther.

Scripts for Spiderman 5&6 have been ordered.

Variety reports that Sony Pictures has engaged screenwriter James Vanderbilt to write Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.
Production on Spider-Man 4 will begin early next year for a May 6, 2011 release. Vanderbilt wrote the first draft of the script for the fourth installment. David Lindsay-Abaire was brought on board to do a rewrite, and Gary Ross is now rewriting that script.
The trade adds that director Sam Raimi didn't embrace all of Vanderbilt's ideas, but executives at Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios have. Vanderbilt has been hired to pen the fifth and sixth movies, which have an interconnected storyline.
It's unclear whether Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will be back for #5 & 6, but if they aren't, Vanderbilt's script would be the blueprint for a franchise reboot.

A few things to perhaps glean here are that Sam Raimi has some issues with the first draft of Spiderman 4. If Sony learns anything from his, now justified, complaint with Venom being forced into pt.3 its to let Sam do Spiderman his way. The first two installments showed that.

That production on Spidey 4 is still on track for an early 2010 start.

If Spidey 4 is a hit then the next Spidey installments will come quicker regardless of the cast. Reboot is possible for those calling for it.

 

[Hermiod]

I would not mind a reboot, but only as long as they don't waste time telling the origin story again.

Same goes for all of the major comic book franchises. If you don't know that Superman is an orphan from Krypton, Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and Batman's parents were killed in front of him then you're watching the wrong movie.

 

[coolghoul]

I would not mind a reboot, but only as long as they don't waste time telling the origin story again.

Same goes for all of the major comic book franchises. If you don't know that Superman is an orphan from Krypton, Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and Batman's parents were killed in front of him then you're watching the wrong movie.

Not to say that I want to see the origin all over again, but some of the best scenes in several Batman comics deal with the images of the boy under the street lamps with the two bodies lying there. It's powerful, iconic and character-defining.

So I don't want to see another 30 minutes of origin stories but some reference in the middle of the story (and not just in the credits like The Incredible Hulk) could be nice too. (*could* - not *would* - depends on how they handle it).

 

[Broccoli]

5 and 6 to be interconnected?

Wasn't 4 and 5 going to be interconnected at one point?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

As long as we're done with the constant whining and groaning of Peter and MJ, I'm all for it.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

5 and 6 to be interconnected?

Wasn't 4 and 5 going to be interconnected at one point?

They were thinking of making 4 and 5 interconnected and filming them at the same time, but it didn't pan out.

By the way, Raimi said recently in an interview that he has complete creative control over the next film.

 

[Captain Craig]

5 and 6 to be interconnected?

Wasn't 4 and 5 going to be interconnected at one point?

They were thinking of making 4 and 5 interconnected and filming them at the same time, but it didn't pan out.

By the way, Raimi said recently in an interview that he has complete creative control over the next film.

Yes, they changed their minds on the interconnectedness of the films.
My interrpretation is this.

A) Spidey 4 is a hit, bigger than 3 at least, and they resign at least Raimi & Maguire. This cinematic version continues.

B)Spidey 4 isn't a hit but not a disaster, finishes under pt.3, however Sony knows the character is a big franchise and will film 2 more movies(now a 1&2 vs a 5&6) with a new cast ala reboot to maintain the rights and keep it falling back to Marvel Studios.

 

[TemporalFlux]

I wouldn't mind a reboot at this point; I personally thought that the worst part of 3 was the Sandman stuff, and that was what Raimi wanted. I also didn't care for 2; I've never understood why people went so ga-ga over it. The artificial sun stuff was ridiculous even for a comic book movie, and it was so unnecessary when you had the perfect opportunity to tie Doc Ock into a spider-slayer operation funded by Harry. That doesn't even get into the actual character definition of Octavius; what was presented didn't draw me in at all.

Of course, that's not saying Sony would do better with a fresh reboot of new creative minds, but I would be willing to give it a shot.

 

[EnsignRicky]

They ordered 5 and 6?
If 6 is late, 7 is free.

 

[Trubinator]

I'm looking forward to Spidey 4, but I'd prefer to only make sequels if the studio has good ideas for additional movies. Hell, they can make seven of these for all I care, but make them good!

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I thought that Tobey Maguire was already signed for both 4 & 5 for a total payment of $50 million.

I don't want to see another 30 minutes of origin stories but some reference in the middle of the story (and not just in the credits like The Incredible Hulk) could be nice too. (*could* - not *would* - depends on how they handle it).

Possibly. I thought they did a pretty good job with the mid-movie flashbacks to Batman's origins in Batman (1989) & Batman Forever.

 

[Captain Craig]

I thought that Tobey Maguire was already signed for both 4 & 5 for a total payment of $50 million.

That was the initial deal and as mentioned up thread the idea was 4&5 to be interconnected.

An article from The Sunday Times reveals that Tobey Maguire has signed on for Spider-Man 4 & 5 for a record $50 million in salary PLUS a profit shares from the two films.

Having recently become a father, Tobey Maguire also obtained family time in this deal. He will be able to take early mornings and evenings off so he can play with Ruby Sweetheart, his 22-month-old daughter.

As mentioned previously, Spider-Man 4 & 5 will be shot back-to-back over a period of six months next year, which may imply an earlier release in 2010, whereas it was first announced the release would not be before 2011.

It makes Sony's talk of possible reboot past part 4 if things aren't all peachy to mean maybe that $50m contract has a backdoor. Obviously their minds have changed on which films are to interconnect so perhaps some loophole could keep Tobey from that whole $50 million he originally signed on for.

 

[Thrall]

I don't think 4 will do as well as even the first one. 3 basically turned Spider-Man into a two-hour bad Joss Whedon episode. And as such, severally damaged the reputations of the characters. Genre geeks may dig that character-destroying, nihilist bullshit. But general audiences do not.

The miss use of Venom was also a glaring misstep. Venom is probably even more popular the even The Green Goblin. Who the hell are they going to follow up with? Kraven? Vulture? Electro? None of those even compare to the popularity of Venom.

 

[Hermiod]

^I won't go to see a movie with Kraven in it. He's Spider-Man's most boring villain ever. I'd rather have the Spot or Big Wheel before him.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I think it's time for the Spider-Man movies to take on a different tack and explore what really happened to Peter Parker's parents.

Also, Black Cat please!

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm looking forward to them especially if they have Dylan Baker reprise his role as Curt Connors and let him transform into the Lizard. My brother and I both want to see the Vulture as well. I wonder if they would still be able to get Sir Ben Kingsley to play him like they were considering for Spider-Man 2. Kraven was only interesting to me in the Last Hunt story where he gets roided up on some kind of chemical enchancement formula and buries Peter alive through a dart he uses. I also love the What If version of it as well where he actually kills Peter and takes his place as Spider-Man until Captain America, Human Torch, and Daredevil take him down.

As for as I know the original plan was that 4 and 5 were going to be possibly filmed back to back and be a dulogy of sorts but they weren't able to to do that. 4 will be a stand alone story with 5 and 6 being the duology now.

As I said I'm looking forward to this...hopefully they can get past the problems that Spider-Man 3 had and get back to Spidey 2 and the first one's charm.

 

[Captain Craig]

I think the Lizard is a must.
I also like Kraven. The set up for him is already there. He's not a great reoccuring baddie but when used sparingly and right in the comics he worked. Maybe have Calypso along with him. Have a male/female bad vs a Spidey/Black Cat(hey I'm hoping here ok). He comes to NY after tales of Goblins, Man Ocks, a Man Spider, Cat burgler and a human sized Lizard. He as the ultimate game hunter has the set up in place right there. Mention at some point his brother(who becomes the Chameleon) and you set him up as a baddie for the following two parter perhaps.

 

[Samurai8472]

B)Spidey 4 isn't a hit but not a disaster, finishes under pt.3, however Sony knows the character is a big franchise and will film 2 more movies(now a 1&2 vs a 5&6) with a new cast ala reboot to maintain the rights and keep it falling back to Marvel Studios.

Perhaps when Spider-man is rebooted Spidey can have a small role in "The Avengers" movie

 

[Trent Roman]

^ Even if Sony performs some kind of reset on Spiderman, they still fulfill they contractual obligations and retain the rights to the character, and studios aren't known for their sharing dispositions. Marvel Studios, which is making Avengers, isn't going to see the likes of him for a while yet.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[JacksonArcher]

This doesn't make sense to me. If they are thinking of possibly rebooting at this stage why not make Spider-Man 4 the one they reboot and follow from there? Spider-Man 3 seemed to tie up the loose ends of the first three films so I don't quite understand continuing that continuity only to reboot in mid-story, since it seems this interconnected plotline will start in 4.

And yes, I know the report says only 5 and 6 are interconnected but I have a feeling the new plot thread begins in 4. Maybe I'm (probably) wrong.

Also, can we stop calling these films Spider-Man (Insert Number Here)? It's just so uninventive and boring. I think the next film should be called what Spider-Man 2 was going to be called: The Amazing Spider-Man.