On Friday, Nikki Finke broke it wide that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are signed for SPIDER-MAN 4 and 5:

There’s no deal yet for Kirsten Dunst but Mary Jane Watson will be in the movie again. I’m told Sony “would never recast her” despite her rehab problems. But expect another gal part, too.

Gone is the black costume from Spidey 3, even though “dark” is all the rage in superhero movies right now given the enormous success of The Dark Knight. But I’m told the filmmakers won’t be borrowing from the latest Batman installment because “Spider-Man is its own thing,” one insider tells me. “Sam Raimi made the first serious superhero movie, and others followed. The difference between Spider-Man and Batman is that Batman is duelling with a dark side of himself, and that’s not what Peter Parker’s struggle is. Peter Parker has no dark side himself. In Spider-Man 3 it was the black costume. Peter Parker’s struggle is about sacrifice.”


According to Finke, both films will be shot at the same time, to save money, and the villains will return to the “old-timey” Ditko cast favored by Raimi—like Doc Ock and Sandman—and not the newfangled Venom-types that he so obviously had no interest in.

On the one hand, this makes us happy — two new Spidey movies! — but it also makes us sad that Sam Raimi willl spend the rest of his career making Spider-Man movies, and there will never be an EVIL DEAD 4 or anything really groundbreaking from him for years and years.

BONUS:

Above, video of Julie Taymor talking about the Spider-Man musical.

§ Not really related: Fox had a disappointing year at the box office, and part of the reason was a lack of a superhero tentpole, and perhaps some studio meddling. However, next year, it will be a different story, at least on the superhero front:

Though Fox has no plans for a major overhaul, the studio has scheduled a strategy meeting to assess the status of its superheroes, a group sorely missed this summer. On the agenda, Fox will mull the possibility of more “X-Men” spinoffs, including a young-X-Men project as well as “Deadpool,” based on a character played by Ryan Reynolds in “Wolverine.” The studio is even considering reviving the “Daredevil” property.

“I don’t see Fox changing anything,” says producer-manager JC Spink. “Just because it didn’t work this summer doesn’t mean they should change anything. Everyone has an off season. But look at how many summers in a row it has worked for them.”

1 COMMENT

  2. Now I had heard that Spider-man movie news as well, but it was still uncertain that Maguire and Raimi were officially signed or not. Is this still a rumor?? I’ve not seen anything on the real entertainment sites like Variety or the Hollywood Reporter.

  3. With all due respect to Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, it’s been proven that films can have new casts and continue. James Bond comes to mind. If Dunst won’t return as MJ, it’s not the end of the world.

    I think these films work best as sort-of trilogies. Three films, and then it’s ok to recast, tinker, or whatever. But JK Simmons had better return as Mr. jameson.

    Glad to hear that Raimi, if he continues directing Spidey, will return to the classic villains.

  4. I read Nikki Finke’s article:
    “Gone is the black costume from Spidey 3, even though “dark” is all the rage in superhero movies right now given the enormous success of The Dark Knight.”

    All the rage?? Is she speaking for Hollywood or everyone??? If dark is all the rage, why the hell did IRON MAN do so well as the box office? Honestly, it’s like Hollywood has short-term memory loss. If another superhero movie (long in production) were released tomorrow, with a light-hearted tone, and it was successful … movie execs would be scrambling to copy it and be asking “What Knight?” “Dark Who?”

  5. Heidi,

    You do know that Raimi, along with Michael Uslan, is also involved with the revival of the Shadow over at Sony?

    And it better be Bruce Campbell as Mysterio in Spider-Man 4!!

    ~

    Coat

  6. If Fox doesn’t let go of that Watchmen lawsuit, shouldn’t they be worried about the fanboy response? I’m down.

  7. “I read Nikki Finke’s article:
    “Gone is the black costume from Spidey 3, even though “dark” is all the rage in superhero movies right now given the enormous success of The Dark Knight.”

    All the rage?? Is she speaking for Hollywood or everyone??? ”

    I suspect Finke is picking up from the recent WSJ article where a Warner Bros. exec talked about wanting to have their next superhero movies be as dark and brooding as possible. Because, y’know, clearly the reason the Dark Knight did so well was because it was dark (and not for any other reason) and what works for Batman would work for anyone…

    (The ridiculousness of this sentiment, if that’s really what the exec meant, was pointed out earlier on this blog http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/08/25/dcs-future/ which was a fun bunch of comments…)