Well, that was fast. While it’s not unusual for sequel talk to surround franchises before they’re released, it is pretty unheard of them to get dated, but Sony believes they have a winner on their hands as they’ve gone ahead and slated “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” for a May 2, 2014 release. That’s less than two years after “The Amazing Spider-Man” hits next summer.
While the news comes as a bit of a shocker this afternoon, perhaps we should have seen the webbing on the wall (ha!). You may have forgotten but back in the spring, James Vanderbilt (“Zodiac“) was hired back to write the sequel and we presume studio honchos are pretty thrilled with the direction he’s taking with the material. While Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are certain to be back (looks like their 2013 is booked), it’s not yet known if Marc Webb will return to helm the second installment. Sam Raimi saw nearly a decade of his life eaten up with Peter Parker, and this will only be Webb’s second film. He’s got time to make up his mind, but if there’s other movies and stories he wants to tell (he’s got a few non-comic films developing including “Age of Rage” announced earlier this year), we could see the reins being handed off. But if the film is a big hit — which it should be — you can bet the studio and fans will want Webb back. And you know what else this means? Sequel speculation on characters and storylines for at least the next two years. Ugh.
So consider this the first tentpole stake of 2014 with more to come. “The Amazing Spider-Man” hits theaters on July 3, 2012.
@snowback
Yes but Marvel like first weekend of May to debut their own movies. Maybe they planned book this date for Captain America 2. 😉
Sony was first, so now they have to look for another date.
Of course it\’s only my assumptions. 🙂
Marcus — this is still a Marvel franchise (like X-Men), even though it is licensed to Sony rather than produced directly by Marvel like the pictures in the Avengers universe.
They could at least call it \”The Spectacular Spider-Man\” instead of lazily plopping a \”2\” behind the title.
Actually, this is 2014\’s second tentpole. Avatar 2 comes out that December.
Vanderbilt is talented. Perfect writer for Spidey.
I hope Webb\’s series exposes Raimi\’s for the shit fest it actually was.
Thanks bunty, was going a little fast there.
It\’s 2014 – you\’ve listed it as 2012 in the opening graph. Which would be the first time a sequel came out before its predecessor.
Smart move from Sony. They booked that date before Marvel did. 😉