OK, we doubted new Vulture writer, Claude Brodesser-Akner, last week and evidently we won’t be doing this again.
Us: This morning, one of our trusty sources says, Marc Webb will direct “Spider-Man,” a “deal is definitely being worked out now” (you’ll recall we knew Marc Webb wasn’t getting “Moneyball” earlier this year when everyone else said he was…though it was close at one point).
So we fumbled around trying to find more sources, to double-confirm, etc… and too late.
Claude Brodesser-Akner is on it again. He says, “Sony will imminently announce a deal with “(500) Days of Summer” director Marc Webb to direct not one, but three ‘Spider-Man’ movies in a rebooted franchise that will focus far more on the private life of Peter Parker.”
Update: It’s official, Sony just put out a press release (Coming Soon just copied and pasted it). The studio says this:
At its core, Spider-Man is a small, intimate human story about an everyday teenager that takes place in an epic super-human world. The key for us as we sought a new director was to identify filmmakers who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker’s life. We wanted someone who could capture the awe of being in Peter’s shoes so the audience could experience his sense of discovery while giving real heart to the emotion, anxiety, and recklessness of that age and coupling all of that with the adrenaline of Spider-Man’s adventure. We believe Marc Webb is the perfect choice to bring us on that journey.”
Webb was said to be one of the main candidates for the “Spider-Man” gig last week, which had some people puzzled, but Sony did come close to giving Webb “Moneyball” earlier this year (way earlier than the original reports apparently), and we’re told they would like to continue being in the “Marc Webb business” (Vulture pretty much says the same, Sony’s Amy Pascal is a fan).
Vulture says one of the reasons they’re also after the talented director is that he’s inexpensive compared to most directors they could hire for this job. And after “500 Days of Summer,” he’s proved he can handle the 20-something experience, that in many ways is not far off the teenage one, and that’s definitely the thinking now.
If “Spider-Man” goes angsty and moody (not like some of the Sam Raimi films weren’t), Webb is adept with this tone. Evidently his deal will be “$10 million for the first film, with substantial bonuses built in if the picture reaches certain box-office milestones” (to contrast, Raimi was reportedly getting 25% of the gross which is a pretty, pretty penny).
Congrats to him. It’s an interesting choice, a little bit off the beaten path, but we’re always ok with that. Note, Sony does not mention the three “Spider-Man” films in their press release and there is a reason for this…
"he's proved he can handle the 20-something experience."
he sure as shit didn't handle the character as an architect experience… ive never used a pretty girls hand to sketch my work on!
how is this guy qualified? twilight spidey here we come.
name is SEAN
Love the idea…
Webb is an amazing young inspired director, 500 Days was fantastic…
I still want him to do Saigon…I hope that happens at some point but Im not sure now
Good luck to him, he'll need it.
no way he's getting 10 million to direct the first one..Per the NY Mag article. this guy is young, cheap and they can control him and he'll have to do what they say…no way he has any creative say or final cut. Not a great career move in my book..unless you want to end up being Phillip Noyce
I don't think he can handle it.
500 days of summer was OK, but it was far from impressive…
He can handle the twentysomething experience as well as Jared Hess can handle the teenage experience.
Judging from 500 Days of Twee, Webb is an extremely conservative choice who will turn in a generic pile that is no different than the garbage studios typically peddle; director's cut is irrelevant here.
On the other hand, it cannot possibly be worse than the YouTube clip I just watched of this jazz club scene from Spider-Man 3…so Webb has that going for him I guess.
The problem with the Spiderman films has never been the direction, but the scripts. If they continue down the path of overstuffing each film with villains and teen soap opera writing the franchise will continue to be awful.
THREE MORE Spiderman films? I'm not sure I get why there needs to be one more Spiderman film…
I liked the first one okay, loved the second one, and… yeah. What's left to say about the character in a fourth, fifth and sixth film?
1) It's a reboot 2) Hasn't there been like six or seven Batman movies already? The comic world is vast and unending. As long as people keep buying tickets they'll keep making movies.