Spider-Man 4
| Spider-Man 4 | |
|---|---|
| File:Spider-Man 4, Teaser Poster.jpg Teaser poster | |
| Directed by | Sam Raimi |
| Screenplay by | James Vanderbilt David Lindsay-Abaire Gary Ross |
| Produced by | Avi Arad |
| Starring | Tobey Maguire Kirsten Dunst John Malkovich Anne Hathaway Rosemary Harris Bryce Dallas Howard |
| Music by | Christopher Young |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Spider-Man 4 was the planned, but ultimately cancelled fourth film in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie trilogy. It was scheduled for release in mid 2011. Disagreements between Raimi and Sony about the plot, characters and deadlines led to the film being scrapped in July 2010. The franchise would eventually be rebooted with Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.
Production
Spider-Man 4 entered development in 2008, with Raimi attached to direct and Maguire, Dunst and other recurring cast members set to reprise their roles. Both a fourth and a fifth movie were planned and at one time the idea of shooting the two sequels concurrently was under consideration. However, Raimi stated in March 2009 that only the fourth film was in development at that time and that if there were fifth and sixth films, those two films would actually be a continuation of each other.
James Vanderbilt was hired in October 2008 to pen the screenplay after initial reports in early 2008 that Sony Pictures was in contact with David Koepp, who wrote the first Spider-Man film. The script was subsequently rewritten by Pulitzer-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire and rewritten again by Gary Ross in October 2009. Raimi expressed interest in portraying the transformation of Dr. Curt Connors into his villainous alter-ego, the Lizard; the character's actor Dylan Baker and producer Grant Curtis were also enthusiastic about the idea. Raimi also discussed his desire to upgrade Bruce Campbell from mere cameo appearances to a more significant role. It was reported in December 2009 that John Malkovich was in negotiations to play Vulture[1] and that [Anne Hathaway]] would play Felicia Hardy[2], though she would not have transformed into the Black Cat as in the comics in this film. Instead, Raimi's Felicia was possibly a new superpowered figure called the Vulturess. As disagreements between Sony and Raimi threatened to push the film off the intended May 6, 2011 release date, Sony Pictures announced in January 2010 that plans for Spider-Man 4 had been cancelled due to Raimi's withdrawal from the project. Raimi reportedly ended his participation due to his doubt that he could meet the planned May 6, 2011 release date while at the same time upholding the film creatively. Raimi purportedly went through four iterations of the script with different screenwriters and still disliked them all.
Cast
- Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man / Peter Parker
- Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson
- John Malkovich as Vulture / Adrian Toomes
- Anne Hathaway as Vulturess / Felicia Hardy
- Dylan Baker as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard
- Rosemary Harris as May Parker
- J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson
- Bill Nunn as Joseph "Robbie" Robertson
- Elizabeth Banks as Betty Brant
- Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy
- James Cromwell as Captain George Stacy
- Mageina Tovah as Ursula Ditkovich
- Elya Baskin as Dr. Ditkovitch
Raimi's Thoughts on the Film
Raimi admitted to being "exhausted" with the "tremendous amount of delegation" needed to make "gigantic" movies like the Spider-Man films. However, it ultimately came down to an inability to get together a suitable story that led him to pass on a fourth installment of the blockbuster franchise. "It really was the most amicable and undramatic of breakups: It was simply that we had a deadline and I couldn’t get the story to work on a level that I wanted it to work", he said of his split with Sony Pictures. "I was very unhappy with Spider-Man 3, and I wanted to make Spider-Man 4 to end on a very high note, the best Spider-Man of them all. But I couldn’t get the script together in time, due to my own failings, and I said to Sony, ‘I don’t want to make a movie that is less than great, so I think we shouldn’t make this picture. Go ahead with your reboot, which you’ve been planning anyway’". He continued, "[Sony co-chairman] Amy Pascal said, "Thank you. Thank you for not wasting the studio’s money, and I appreciate your candor." So we left on the best of terms, both of us trying to do the best thing for fans, the good name of Spider-Man, and Sony Studios".