Barashin
Lurker
This is only a rumor and I'm writing about it purely for the sake of discussion. IESB claims they've heard from an "inside source" that Spider-Man 4, or Spider-M4n as it's currently being referred to at the studio, was put on "indefinite hold" due to arguments over the villain between Sony execs and Sam Raimi. While IESB says that some department heads working on SM4 were notified of this halt last week, SuperHeroHype says they contacted Sony who told them that they "are simply on hiatus for the holidays and production will resume in the new year." So who do you believe? Or is there some truth to both stories? Read on for more!
IESB goes on to say that Sam Raimi really wants Vulture (see this article) to be the villain, but the studio wants "which ever character is selling [comic] books right now but basically they have no idea, just not the Vulture." You have got to be kidding me! I actually completely believe that. They may be going on break, but I actually believe Raimi is fighting with the Sony execs about this exact issue. Apparently Raimi wanted Vulture in Spider-Man 3 alongside of Sandman, but that didn't happened and he was eventually forced to include Venom because that's what Sony thought fans wanted. And look how bad that movie turned out.
So apparently production was stopped until "some compromises are made." As in, until Sony gets their way and ruins another Spider-Man movie. I'm calling this right now. If Vulture does not appear in Spider-Man 4, the movie is going to suck. If he does (along with other villains), it should be awesome. I guarantee you if Raimi had his way and made a Spider-Man movie exactly the way he wanted, it would be awesome (just like Spider-Man 2). Instead of arguing further, Sony has decided to let everything cool down over the holidays, despite they're desire to get this made right away. Hence why there is some truth to both stories.
Let's not forget that when Movieline reported that John Malkovich might be cast as the Vulture, they also added that the Sony execs don't want the Lizard as a villain at all because they "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." Obviously these execs are complete fucking idiots. I'm tired of hearing this crap about a franchise I once loved because Raimi made movies with villains he loved, not what Sony execs thought were "selling books." Even if this is just a rumor, it's disheartening to know that they're having these kind of problems again.
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UPDATE & CONFIRMED: Spider-Man 4 on Hold, Sam Raimi 'Hates' the Script
This sounds bad. We wrote a few stories at the end of last year about Spider-Man 4 being put on hold because Sony and Sam Raimi were fighting about the script for the fourth movie. Sony wants another record-breaking blockbuster while Raimi wants to get "back to basics" and make a movie that everyone actually enjoys this time. Well, Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood has now confirmed that Spider-Man 4 is indeed on hold and it may not even make its May 2011 release date. "We will be extending the production hiatus on the film. The studio is firmly committed to this franchise but, for us, the script must come first."
If you thought thinks were bad last year, apparently they've only gotten much worse. Drew McWeeny of HitFix says: "Since that first story ran, I've been hearing some really terrible things about what's going on between Sam Raimi, the studio, and the writers, and I've been starting to wonder if there's any chance they can reach an agreement that will make all involved parties happy." I'm starting to worry about that as well. Will Raimi and Sony be able to work things out? I'm surprised that they're even fighting with Raimi, especially if they paid copious amounts to make sure he would return to begin with. Doesn't make sense?
Anyway, word from Finke is that the Raimi "hated" the latest draft of the script. Sony has hired a fourth writer, Alvin Sargent, who wrote Spider-Man 2 and 3, to work on a new draft (which they're waiting on). But the problem is they're already behind schedule waiting on this script and therefore, according to an insider at Sony, "it is unlikely that May 11, 2011, date will be made." But of course, "it depends on how quickly the script can get in," and if Raimi and Sony both like it. Finke says that Sony still wants to release Spider-Man 4 that summer, even if they have to do push it back to July. But they'll be losing that May spot.
So what's the big fight all about? Well, referring to the article we wrote in December, it sounds like Raimi really wants John Malkovich to play Vulture, and Sony doesn't like that idea. They also don't like the idea of hiring Anne Hathaway as Vulturess (or some other key female character) because "she'd cost too much and that they probably don't need 'such a big star' for the pic." And let's not forget why they don't want Dr. Connors to ever turn into The Lizard - because they "can't bring themselves to sign off on such an odd-looking enemy." Raimi is the one who should win this - he knows his franchise better than anyone.
I really have no more energy to write about Spider-Man 4 or Spider-M4n or whatever it'll be called. The more I hear, the more depressed I get. If only Sony would listen to Raimi and go with what he wants in his movie, then we'd not only have another big record-breaker in the works, but it'd probably be an awesome movie as well (just like Spider-Man 2). We'll keep you update on this anyway, hopefully with better news.
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