 PLAGIARISM IS ILLEGAL! Please don't take any pictures, sounds, text or other content from this site without my EXPRESS, WRITTEN PERMISSION!
I
What about Nicholas Hammond? There's no word on if he'll appear in the movie but he's apparently given his blessing to Tobey Macquire. So have a lot of skeptical Spider-Man fans who've seen the new trailer. Now all we have to do is be patient until May 3, 2002. 
|
I
must confess that I was pretty skeptical that a Spider-Man theatrical
movie would ever make it to the big screen. Since the early 1980s,
there have been discussions about making a Spider-Man movie but
red tape dragged the project down for fifteen years. According
to primetime legend, there was initially discussion in the early
1980s of bringing Nicholas Hammond back in a new live-action
Spidey TV movie which would also feature Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno
in a Spider-Man/Incredible Hulk live-action crossover. Apparently
Lou Ferrigno (who was then starring in Hercules) wasn't quite
ready to jump into the green makeup again and the project was
shelved. It's a shame, because an adventure like that would have
really caught MY interest. :-)
n the
mid-1980s, Cannon films announced plans to release a live-action
Spider-Man movie as well as a live-action Captain America movie.
In 1985, Stan Lee told "Comics Scene" magazine that
the film was coming along nicely and that he expected the film
to be in theatres by Christmas 1986. The movie never made it.
Unfortunately for Marvel Comics, the big-budget adaptation of
"HOWARD THE DUCK" ended up failing miserably at the
box office and casting a dark cloud over live-action Super-hero
movies. The next year, DC Comics' Super-Man franchise came crashing
down when "Super-Man IV: the Quest for Peace" failed
to earn even a fraction of what its three predecessors did at
the box office. The sudden box-office unpopularity was only part
of Spider-Man's troubles.
First,
Cannon Films was in financial trouble and changed ovwnership.
In retrospect, this was a good thing. Their original plan was
to film Spider-Man on a shoe-string $5.5 million dollar budget
(Cannon specialized in making cheapie movies includinfg a number
starring Chuck Norris, pre-Walker-Texas-Ranger). Something that
cheap would have barely been above the level of the original
70s TV show starring Nicholas Hammond. Marvel Comics apparently
wasn't keen on the script that was written for the Cannon treatment
and it was reportedly reworked a couple of times.
In
1989, the Super-Hero film genre breathed again when BAT-MAN (starring
Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton and Kim Bassinger) was a smash
box-office hit. Unfortunately for Marvel, their comic adaptations
weren't lucky. THE PUNISHER (starring Dolph "Rocky IV"
Lungran) was panned and only saw theatrical release overseas.
CAPTAIN AMERICA starring Matt Salinger was also panned and didn't
make the theatres, instead seeing release on home video. THE
FANTASTIC FOUR, a cheap $2 million dollar feature by Roger "BLACK
SCORPION" Corman was purchased by a bigger studio and buried
before it could even hit the theatres and is only available on
bootleg videos. MARVEL movies seemed cursed.
Unfortunately,.
for Spider-Man, legal issues, conflicting schedules and brankruptcy
made the web even more tangled. The producer of the original
Cannon project left the company when it was absorbed into Pathe
Communications. Taking the film ights to Spider-Man with him,
he started a new company called 21st Century Entertainment and
struck a deal with Carolco films to produce a big budget adaptation
of Spider-Man. Caroloco set about hiring James "Titantic"
Cameron to prepare a treatment of the film and wooed him to produce
and direct the project. Then legal hell-broke loose. The original
producer and his company, 21st Century Entertainment, filed suit
against Caroloco. 
Caroloco counter-filed. Marvel Comics
also sued, claiming that the film rights to Spider-Man had long
expired and needed to be re-negotiated. . Viacom and Columbia-TriStar
also filed suits, claiming that they had old deals with 21st
Century which gave them television broadcast and home video rights
to the movie. Confused? So was I. Let's just say that the outcome
was pretty devestating for many of the companies involved in
lawsuits: Caroloco, 21st Century and Marvel Comics all went bankrupt.
Unfortunately for some Spidey fans, Cameron left the project
when the legal battles were going on.
Ultimately,
things worked themselves out. Sony Pictures acquired the rights
to Spider-Man, Marvel emerged from the ashes, and Marvel's movie
curse seemed to finally disappear when big-screen adaptations
of BLADE and X-MEN did brisk business at the box office. Spider-Man
moved out of legal hell and moved ahead full steam. With Cameron
gone, Sony hired Sam Raimi to healm the picture. Raimi had earned
cult status initially producing movies such as THE EVIL DEAD
trilogy, DARK MAN and (more recently) television series such
as "HERCULES" and "XENA: Warrior Princess".
For those who are worried that the camp-style of these movies
will rub off on Spider-Man, it's important to remember that Raimi
has also received critical acclaim for movies like A SIMPLE PLAN
and THE GIFT.
SPIDER-MAN
began filming in January 2000. A number of actors and actresses
were apparently considered for the key roles in the film. Leonardo
"TITANIC" DiCaprio apparently expressed interest in
the role, as did Freddy "She's All That" Prinze Jr.
and Nicholas "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" Brendan. John
"Being John Malcovich" Malcovich was apparently considered
for the role of the Green Goblin and it was rumoured that Jim
"I make $20 million a picture for acting like a stupid numbskull"
Carrey vied for the part1\. The part of Peter's love interest,
Mary Jane, was reportedly tried for by Alicia ("Mr. Holland's
Opus") Witt and Kate ("Almost Famous") Hudson.
Raimi
reportedly had very particular preferences on who should play
Peter Parker. By some accounts, he wanted the role to, without
question, fall to Tobey Maguire ("The Cider House Rules",
"Wonderboys", "Pleasentville") - an up-and-coming
actor who had received critical acclaim for his previous roles.
Maguire pumped up for the role tremendously and worked with trainers
to enhance his balance, flexibility and agility for the role.
The
part if Peter's love interest fell to Kirsten Dunst, a young
actress who first won considerable acclaim at age 11, in the
movie adaptation of Ann Rice's novel, AN INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE.
Dunst has since starred in a range of movies, including JUMANGI,
15 AND PREGNANT, SMALL SOLDIERS, BRING IT ON, CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL,
LITTLE WOMEN, DICK, WAG THE DOG, and DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. More
recently, Dunst appeared in Sophia Coppola's acclaimed filme,
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. The blond actress paid homage to loyal Spider-Man
readers by wearing a red wig for the role.
Unlike
the original live-action TV series, the new SPIDER-MAN movie
will also feature a super-villain from the comic book. There
was some speculation as to who that villain would be: it was
originally thought by some that Dr. Octopus or the Scorpion would
appear to cause Spider-Man angst but Raimi soon revealed that
the Green Goblin was the be the antagonist. The role went to
Willem Defoe (AMERICAN PSYCHO, SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, MISSISSIPPI
BURNING, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY).
SPIDER-MAN's
production is now well underway and is scheduled for release
on May 3rd, 2002 - two weeks before STAR WARS: Episode II. The
production itself looks impressive, despite a number of setbacks.
A crew member was killed on the set early in production and Raimi
had to pull an initial teaser trailer featuring the WORLD TRADE
CENTER when the towers were destroyed on September 11th, 2001.
Raimi has since released a spectacular new trailer which can
be downloaded from