Sony’s decision to reboot the Spider-Man franchise may have come too soon and has painted them into a tiny corner with their planned universe, since the rebooted franchise has struggled to please critics, and has not fared well at the box office, with each film earning less than its successor. The news that the studio would reschedule The Amazing Spider-Man 3‘s 2016 release to a rumored 2017 release did not bode well for the franchise, and now things are about to get much worse.
Roberto Orci, who was hired to write the script for the second sequel, plus the script for the Venom spinoff, will no longer be involved with developing The Amazing Spider-Man cinematic universe. Losing a writer at this critical juncture is one thing, but Orci says that he has no idea what the studio’s plans are for the franchise.
Hit the jump for more.
In an exclusive interview with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 scribe, Orci confirmed to IGN that he will no longer be working on The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. This includes the planned Venom and Sinister Six spinoff films that Sony hoped would be released after The Amazing Spider-Man 3. It was originally thought that with The Amazing Spider-Man 3‘s rumored rescheduling, this would give more time for Orci to work on the series’ spinoff films.
But with Orci out, The Amazing Spider-Man franchise is now in flux. Here is what Orci told IGN:
“I don’t know what their plans are for that franchise,” Orci said when asked about his continued involvement. “I don’t ever want to say never, but we have to figure out what their scheduling is in terms of when they want each movie. I’ve read probably as much as anyone else. There’s a love for the Sinister Six, the idea of Venom — there’s an idea of Spider-Man’s going to be one of these characters that’s part of our business. He’s such a popular character. Spider-Man’s not going to go away any time soon. When it all happens and how and all that has yet to be determined.”
As bad as this sounds, it is not unexpected. Recently, Paramount announced that Orci would be directing Star Trek 3. He had penned both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, and will most likely do some script work on Star Trek 3. So the move could have been made so that he can focus his efforts on perfecting Star Trek 3, which Paramount hopes to release in 2016. Remember, Drew Goddard dropped out of being the showrunner for Marvel Studios and Netflix’s Daredevil to focus on writing Sinister Six.
However, even if the move wasn’t a shock, what will happen now that the studio has lost its franchise writer? Orci doesn’t say much about the franchise’s future, and adds that he only knows as much about what is going on with it as anybody else.
It’s really hard to say where The Amazing Spider-Man franchise is headed. Sony jumped at the opportunity to reboot the franchise at a time where 3D and IMAX helped boost box office returns. But with the franchise not producing the numbers Sony had hoped for, it wouldn’t be a complete shock to see the studio reschedule the film. So for now, The Amazing Spider-Man 3‘s June 10th, 2016 release stands.
[Source: IGN]
“It’s really hard to say where The Amazing Spider-Man franchise is headed.”
Thanks for wasting my time!
Comment by Mister_Misinformed — July 12, 2014 @ 6:33 pm
It’s possible people have seen too much Spiderman, too many super heroes or too many reboots to care, anymore.
Comment by Paul Schilder — July 12, 2014 @ 7:09 pm
They should have left well enough alone. There was no need to reboot Spider-Man. Those first three films were a great success. The only reason I could see why they wanted to reboot Spider-Man was for the almighty dollar! Unfortunately, this has become a Hollywood habit…lets try and repeat past glories, and see if we can make it even bigger and better, and more importantly, make even more money than before. I wonder though, how many times will Spider-Man (or any other franchise) be rebooted within the next thirty years. lol
Comment by Ronald Oliver — July 13, 2014 @ 5:36 pm
Dear Author: You might want to look up what the word “successor” means. The word you were looking for was “predecessor.”
Comment by Dorkenheimer — July 14, 2014 @ 1:27 am
I’ve never liked Orci. There, I said it!
With so many talented up-and-coming screenwriters and decades of “Spider-Man” comics to draw from, these movies practically write themselves! So, really, what’s the problem here?
If it wanted, Sony/ Columbia could have these movies written by crowd-sourcing fans at ComicCon — No, really! These fans already know the characters and what they expect, so let them weed-out the junk and write-up the scenes they want to see on-screen. Simple!
The “problem,” as I see it here, has more to do with industry politics than it does with finding a writer or managing time and resources. Whatever it is, Sony/ Columbia need to get over it, move on, and give someone else a shot at making it big!
“In a rational world, of course…”
Comment by David Webb — July 15, 2014 @ 8:06 am