The Daily Planet

The axing comes after director Sam Raimi told the studio he couldn’t make a planned May-2011 release date. Sony will now reboot the franchise, with a new director and cast and a new script that puts the superhero in high school.

The new Spider-Man 4 won’t be released until mid-2012. Rumours suggest that the movie could be shot in 3-D after the spectacular success of Avatar.“Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction,” Raimi, who directed all three instalments of the Spider-Man franchise, said.


Spider-Man 4 was supposed to start filming in February, which Tobey Maguire echoed repeatedly in publicity appearances for Brothers. Then it pushed to March. Then late March/early April. And by January 5th there was no date at all, according to my Sony insiders who emailed me: "Some decisions have been made over the holiday about Spider-Man 4.



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. We intend to notify members of the crew immediately. As you know, Alvin Sargent is currently working on the screenplay. When we have more news, we will keep you posted."



Pascal and Tolmach, who have shepherded the Spider-Man franchise from Day One, have been wrestling with this script problem for months. "I'm going to do everything I can to make May," she has repeatedly told Hollywood types involved with the movie. "But I'm not going to start a movie where the script isn't right yet. Not unless I want my career to be over."

Labels: Cinema, Film, Lizard, Movie, Spiderman 4, Stan Lee, Superhero, Theater, Villain