Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, SPIDER-MAN
© Sony
Spider-Man 2
By: Corona's Coming AttractionsDate: Thursday, July 01, 2004
Genre:
Action/Superhero/Comic Book Adaptation/Sequel.
Studio:
Columbia Pictures.
Production Company:
Unknown.
Project Phase:
In the Can.
Who's In It:
Tobey Maguire (Peter Parker/"Spider-Man"); Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson); Alfred Molina (Dr. Otto Octavius/"Doctor Octopus"); James Franco (Harry Osborn); J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson); Dylan Baker (Dr. Curt Connors); Donna Murphy (Rosalie Octavius); Daniel Gilles (John Jameson); Ted Raimi (Hoffman); Bruce Campbell.
Who's Making It:
Sam Raimi (Director); Alvin Sargent, Michael Chabon, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar (Screenwriters); Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad, Ian Bryce (Producers).
Premise:
Spider-Man faces off against a new menace: the diabolical Doctor Octopus, a brilliant scientist who also has control over four mechanical tentacles that have been grafted to his abdomen.
Release Date:
June 30, 2004.
Comments:
Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN blew away box office records on its opening weekend in 2002, prompting Columbia Pictures to immediately begin work on a sequel. With Raimi once again back behind the camera lens and the focus of the picture settling on just one new supervillain, could lighting strike twice for the Spider? Are you kidding!?
Scoop Feedback:
March 27, 2003... When the spider changed its mind the monster hunter took its place. Columbia Pictures has announced that the release of its much-anticipated sequel to last year's Spider-Man has been pushed back two months from May 7, 2004, and is now slotted for July 2/04.
Taking advantage of the shift in strategy was Universal Pictures. When Columbia made its announcement, Universal leapt immediately and pushed up the release of Van Helsing two weeks ahead of its initial target, from May 21 to May 7.
Columbia said that it moved the Spider sequel due to an unexpected delay in the start of that picture's principal photography. Star Tobey Maguire completed work in DreamWorks' Seabiscuit film only last month, a month later than when Columbia thought he would be available for SM2. [Source: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter.]
June 30, 2003... In today's Variety there's a quick mention that Columbia Pictures plans on releasing the first trailer for SPIDER-MAN 2 this coming November. No info was given as to which film(s) the SPIDEY 2 trailer may run with or when in November we'll get to see it. At least it gives us an idea when we can expect to see Doc Ock in action.
It also would seem to shoot down the five pieces of alleged SPIDER-MAN 2 movie banner artwork we were sent this past weekend. The person who submitted them claims the designs are being considered as possible promotional material for the movie, to hang in theater lobbies, but Variety's mention of a late '03 release for the picture's trailer would seem to shoot down any early looks at the film's characters. Reminiscent of the teaser poster artwork created for THE MATRIX RELOADED, one of the alleged banner designs shows the back of Doctor Octopus and his four mechanical tentacles along with views of Spidey's chest, Peter Parker, Mary-Jane and Aunt May. Nevertheless, it's fanfic until we can deem otherwise.
July 9, 2003... If you've been off-planet for the past few months, SPIDER-MAN 2 (a.k.a. "The Amazing Spider-Man") has been filming in New York City and Chicago for the past month. Director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst all return in the sequel to 2002's box office titan. This time the story has Peter/Spidey squaring off against the menace of Dr. Otto Octavius, a.k.a. Doctor Octopus, a madman who has accidentally grafted powerful animatronic arms to his abdomen. Alfred Molina plays Doc Ock in the film.
As was the case with the first film, fans are salivating to see what kind of design Raimi is using for the supervillain in SM2. Security has been tighter than Aunt May's underwear drawer during pre-production and filming of the picture, with very little in the way of insider information being released. Of course, we've had our own friend working for us, and they've told us of some of the trials and tribulations that Raimi and his effects team have had designing the arms of Doc Ock. To prove to you that our source is authentic, they told us about the casting of Molina as Doctor Octopus before the news broke online or in the trades. They've also told us about Raimi's desire to keep the mechanical arms as tangible and real as possible and to not use CGI unless the effect absolutely cannot be created any other way.
What I'm building up to here is when you can expect to finally see the good Doctor's tentacles. And it's sooner than you expect. Try next week -- and right smack dab in the heart of fan-friendly territory.
Our source tells us that Raimi will have the first look of Doctor Octopus' metal tentacles at next week's San Diego Comic Convention. Thousands of fans will be the first in the world to get a taste of what's to come next summer.
If you were quick and you knew where to look yesterday, a look at Ock's arms was posted online yesterday. Savvy readers of Superhero Hype caught a look at the tentacle design -- not the final mechanical apparatus -- when the Hype posted an image from a Hollywood design artist's website. The image and article has since been removed from Superhero Hype, rumored to be at the request of Sony Pictures.
Our Spider source also told us some other very interesting things about the production, storyline and surprises in store when we see SPIDER-MAN 2. However, we cannot report anything further at the present time for reasons that will become apparent as time goes by. Again, we trust our source because of our prior history working with them and the accurate and timely information they have provided. If they say Doc Ock will be at Comicon next week, we're expecting to see metal tentacles!
[A big, big thank you to our anonymous source who's been great to us!]
July 22, 2003... As we first reported to you back on July 9, thanks to one of our inside sources we were the first to tell you that the new supervillain we'll see in SPIDER-MAN 2, Doctor Octopus, would make his public debut at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. That's exactly what happened, with Sony Pictures presenting the character in a teaser poster image. The studio also showed a brief clip of the Doctor's tentacles in action for the first time and the carnage they can inflict upon those in the immediate vicinity.
Now that same super SPIDER scooper has returned once more to hook us up with more inside information. There are new secrets to share about what kind of powers Doc Ock will have and how cool he'll look in the sequel. Believe me, once you read what our spy has to say the wait until SM2 opening day will seem that much further away.
Perhaps the most intriguing item that our source had to reveal concerns Doctor Octopus' mechanical tentacles. As you can see from the poster image, they've been accidentally fused to Octavius' spine and can't be removed for a good reason: they don't want to be removed.
Unlike the character's comic book counterpart, Doctor Octopus' tentacles each have a different function and are able to do different things. You can see a hint of this if you look very closely at the ends of each of the tentacles; the ends appear similar but have minor differences from each other. "The four claws are not identical...for very cool reasons," writes our source. And listening to what Marvel Studios' Avi Arad had to say at the SPIDER-MAN 2 panel on Saturday, they might also each have their own distinct personality! Now we're really excited to see these babies in full action against Spidey!
"Each of the tentacles has the underside painted yellow like a snake belly," our source goes on to say. "The yellow is a bright 'police line' kind of yellow. It really makes the tentacles look like serious machinery." Again, if you look closely at the teaser image Sony provided us you'll be able to indeed see a yellow stripe running down one side of each tentacle.
Also hinted at in the teaser poster is a clue as to where Spidey and Doc Ock will go at each other in the picture. If you look at the full-size image supplied at the top of this page, you will see Octavius standing on the top of a structure. And if you look very closely at the bottom, you'll be able to see the top of what appears to be a roman numeral. That's because Octopus is perched at the top of a clock tower, a very important location for a major action sequence in SPIDER-MAN 2. That's where Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus go at it web to claw!
In the comic book Doctor Octopus had a hairstyle that makes him look like one of the Beatles during the 60s. He also wore thick circular glasses that whited out his eyes, giving him more of a menacing look. For the movie translation Raimi's tried to keep Ock's look as close as he can without losing points for fashion disasters; thus, the movie version of Doc Ock has bangs and wears shades to obscure his eyes. Instead of a white labcoat, the movie Octopus wears a green trenchcoat.
Our mysterious source promises more treats for us at a future time. Now that Sony has given us a look at the bad guy and our friendly pal has told us what we can expect to see when Doc Ock is in action, waiting until July 2, 2004 seems like a long time indeed.
[Another big thank you to our enigmatic friend!]
July 30, 2003... A wanderer at the annual SIGGRAPH convention took a photo of a SPIDER-MAN 2 promotional poster said to be at the Sony Imageworks booth and sent it to Superhero Hype. The image is Spidey swinging over a city street appears to be made strictly for the SIGGRAPH convention and not for theater lobbies. Still, it's our first real look at the way the studio will be presenting the wall-crawler in the sequel.
As you may recall, one of our earlier scoops stated that the first teaser poster for SPIDER-MAN 2 should appear in theaters sometime in November, in conjunction with a teaser trailer. SPIDER-MAN 2 is slated for a July 2, 2004 release. [Superhero Hype got web fluid in our eyes.]
August 28, 2003... Sony Pictures has kicked the doors open on its website for SPIDER-MAN 2, giving fans some new treats to see. You can download wallpaper, screensavers, buddy icons and watch "webisode" showing highlights from the SPIDER-MAN 2 presentation at San Diego Comic-Con.
Check out the official SPIDER-MAN 2 website here. [Sony Pictures.]
October 30, 2003... Sony Pictures has sent us the new teaser poster design for SPIDER-MAN 2, which should start being spotted in theater lobbies starting this coming Saturday. The poster design is similar to the one we saw used in the first SPIDER-MAN movie publicity campaign showing Spidey's torso and head up close. This time we've got the wall-crawler caught in the midst of turning around, and if you look closely at Spidey's eye lens, you'll see a reflection of Doctor Octopus. Ulp.
If you want to grab the artwork for yourself, or were hoping there's a wallpaper version of it, you're in luck. Click here and you'll find out where you can download the SM2 poster design. [Sony Pictures.]
November 26, 2003... Sony Pictures has informed us that they will make the first trailer for SPIDER-MAN 2 available for download on the Web on December 15, two days before the trailer is shown in theaters in front of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING. When it goes live you better believe we'll be the first to tell you the good news.
The studio also reports that, as was scooped to this site more than a month ago, the trailer for HELLBOY will be running attached to Ron Howard's THE MISSING, opening in theaters today. [Sony Picures.]
December 28, 2003... Just before Christmas decended upon us, an anonymous sender sent in this scoop about alleged reshoots happening to SPIDER-MAN 2...
"Just a heads up, but the Sony and SPIDER-MAN 2 production crew are working hard to RE-ASSEMBLE the humongous dock/bridge that they took down nearly a month ago. Instead of re-building the whole set, it seems that only a portion is being re-built (and a bluescreen facade will surround the exterior, therefore saving cost and just using post production to produce the facade). This is all taking place in Stage 30, over at Sony Studios in Culver City.
"It seems that re-shoots will be taking place this week, as the crew was working incredibly hard on Christmas Eve to get the stage completed."
[An anonymous correspondent for the Daily Bugle.]
January 2, 2004... It looks like our earlier scoop about supposed reshoots to a climactic bridge scene for SPIDER-MAN 2 spurred another anonymous scooper to send forth their side of the story. Here's what that person had to say to us:
"Just wanted to fill you in that the 'reshoots' over at Sony this week were not actually reshoots of any kind. They were actually miniture work, which will be used for post-production purposes. Inside Stage 30, over at Sony Studios, the crew has built a scale replication of the bridge/dock that was built months ago for the actual finale. A blue-screen background covered up the exterior,
while the stage was filled with water to provide the appropiate effect.
A series of shots were also compiled of Doc Ock's mechanical arms
(basically the crew was filming the animatronic arms in various positions against a blue screen). Sony really is going all out for this one, though!"
[Anonymous.]
January 14, 2004... Submitted for your approval this Wednesday morning: an Australian reader of the Sunday Telegraph found a story in the newspaper concerning SPIDER-MAN 2. What caught the attention of the scooper were the three photos accompaning the story as well as two statements that they hadn't seen mentioned anywhere else about the film.
The three photos consist of a shot of Spidey swinging thorugh the city, a profile shot of Doctor Octopus and his "arms", and one of Peter and Mary Jane walking and talking on a city street. The article also stated that SPIDER-MAN 2 is part of a trilogy of films and that the stars have signed on for another sequel, and that, and we quote what the scooper sent to us, "...audiences can look forward to a vision of the Man-Wolf, an astronaut who mutates into a creature after handling some moon rock during a space expedition."
A quick check of the online Telegraph website and we could find no mention of this SPIDER-MAN 2 article or of the photos, so we put a call out to our Australian readers: did you see this article in this past Sunday's Telegraph or are we being had?
[Anonymous down under.]
January 15, 2004... Thanks to our friends in the southern hemisphere, we've been given confirmation regarding yesterday's SPIDER-MAN 2 scoop. The Melbourne Telegraph did indeed publish three new photos from SPIDER-MAN 2 as well as report that the stars have signed for three SPIDER-MAN movies and that the Man-Wolf makes an appearance in the film.
If the Man-Wolf character really shows up in SM2 the Telegraph will have been the first publication to break the news. While it's already been established that the human character of John Jameson (son of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson) is in the flick, nothing so far has indicated that the comic book fate for the young hunky astronaut would be given screen time in the upcoming sequel. We're still skeptical about Man-Wolf being squeezed in the story somehow; according to the latest intelligence, not even a cameo by The Lizard will be seen in SPIDER-MAN 2 -- and that's even with the human side of the character being played by Dylan Baker. Everything we've heard leads us to believe that it's just Doc Ock as the only Spider-Man villain given any screen time. As the days go by and the release date for the film starts to draw closer, if the Man-Wolf report is indeed true more confirmation should come to pass.
[About two dozen Aussies took time out from their summer to tell us the news and we thank every one of them.]
February 16, 2004... According to Spider-Man Hype, sketches drawn by the one and only Alex Ross will be featured during the opening credit sequence for SPIDER-MAN 2. The website states that Ross' illustrations will "rehash the events that happened in SPIDER-MAN", serving as a primer for audience members for what happened in Peter Parker's first big-screen adventure.
Ross is considered one of the top talents currently working in comic books today. His photorealistic painted work has served as the artwork for MARVELS and KINGDOM COME, and he provided covers for the EARTH X and ASTRO CITY series. [Superhero Hype.]
March 25, 2004... Yesterday at ShoWest, the annual meeting of theater owners and movie studios, Sony Pictures unveiled its big SPIDER-MAN 2 presentation which included the film's new trailer. Reports from movie websites that had members from their staff in attendance (Coming Soon, Dark Horizons, CHUD) all seem to indicate that the trailer, which shows Spidey battling Doc Ock on top of subway trains, rocks. Look for your opportunity to see the new SPIDER-MAN 2 trailer in theaters on April 9. [Sony Pictures.]
April 3, 2004... Sony Pictures is asking for help from you for its plans for the SPIDER-MAN 2 and SPIDER-MAN Special Edition DVDs. The company wants feedback from consumers about what kind of special features you would like to see on the DVDs, and to get that information, has constructed an online survey. The questionnaire takes about 10 minutes to complete.
If you would like to take part in the DVD survey follow this link and you'll be directed to answer a series of questions.
April 5, 2004... Coming Soon (via USA Today) is reporting that the trailer for SPIDER-MAN 2 will have its debut during the broadcast of this week's episode of THE APPRENTICE. The two-and-a-half minute trailer will run approximately 40 minutes into the show. Sony should be hosting the trailer shoprtly thereafter on the film's official website. [Coming Soon, USA Today.]
April 9, 2004... Sony has put the new trailer for SPIDER-MAN 2 on the film's official website and it's worth the wait. Not only do we get to see more action from the upcoming sequel, but the shots that they show would suggest that the second movie is going to have even more spectacular fight sequences. Those CGI animators have been earning their paychecks.
Get the trailer here and then select your size of spectacle. SPIDER-MAN 2 opens June 30. Make plans now.
May 6, 2004... In the high-priced world of Major League Baseball, some players earn hundreds of millions of dollars in their contracts. Baseball franchise owners have been complaining for years about the stratospheric cost of maintaining their rosters but some of them aren't thrilled over the League's newest way to make money by placing ads for Sony's upcoming SPIDER-MAN 2 on bases during games.
"I'm old fashioned," explains Fay Vincent who has a unique perspective on the matter. Vincent was both a MLB commissioner as well as a former president for Columbia Pictures, the studio which will distribute the SPIDER-MAN movie. "I'm a romanticist. I think the bases should be protected from this. I feel the same way I do when I see jockeys wear ads: maybe this is progress, but there's something in me that regrets it very much."
The red-and-webbed base ads will appear during the June 11 to 13 weekend. Fifteen baseball games in all will be host to the Spider-Man themed bases, with most teams earning $50,000 for allowing the advertising to take place. Only the Yankees and the Red Sox will net $100K each. [Associated Press.]
May 7, 2004... After receiving a flood of complaints from irate baseball fans, Major League Baseball officials have decided to reverse their decision and not allow ads for Sony's SPIDER-MAN 2 on bases during three days next month. The ads would have appeared on all bases except for home plate during the weekend of June 11 to 13 and put about $3 million in the pocket of the League and 15 baseball teams.
"It isn't worth, frankly, having a debate about," said baseball commissioner Bug Selig yesterday after the decision had been reached. "I'm a traditionalist. The problem in sports marketing, particularly in baseball, is you're always walking a very sensitive line." [Associated Press.]
June 23, 2004... Sam Raimi talked to Chuck the Movie Guy about how the story for SPIDER-MAN 2 came together, and said that he's ready to direct SPIDER-MAN 3.
Raimi's decision that Peter Parker needed to lose his powers in the second film was influenced by the comics themselves. "I was thinking about a great issue of Stan Lee's Spider-Man comic book where he gets the flu," said the director. "And [Peter Parker], for a time, is really weak. It was so human to me, I thought it was great. This superhero's got the bug that affects all of us, and just like we all have to go to work when we're sick and we really don't know why we're doing this and how we're gonna do our job, he had to fight criminals when he had the flu. I thought that was incredibly human, a humanizing thing to have happened to a super hero."
Then there was also the influence of the famous "Peter throws away the costume" issue. "It was issue number 50, perhaps, his life problems had just become too great, so I think what happened was there was a synthesis of those two ideas, along with other elements I was interested in telling in this story. That's where the genesis of the loss of powers came from."
Raimi also put the heat on Tobey Maguire, who at one point was out of the webslinging race due to a back injury (THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW's Jake Gyllenhall was going to don the webshooters, but Tobey's back healed in time to, um, shoot). Raimi said that, ironically, Tobey's physical status fit right in with the theme of the sequel. "I wanted them to realize that to be responsible, you have to pay a price. It's not easy to do the right thing. You always have to give something of yourself. [Y]ou have to make a personal sacrifice, you've got to maybe risk personal injury, you've got to say something that you may be ashamed to say. So I wanted to show that to be this hero had a great cost to Tobey... So I wanted him to suffer to be that hero. So I beat him up as much as I could in the story."
In terms of directing the third Spidey flick, Raimi said that he's always imagined Peter Parker's story in three parts. "[O]ne, the Spider-Man comic books have always been in parts. But two, the movie itself seemed complete to me. In my mind, I was working on the story and I knew how I wanted it to end. The story of a life out of balance, first lopsided in one way as he tries to be this responsible young man and then lopsided in another way as he decides the hell with it, I'm living my life, damn anybody else. And then that road leads to such moral decay that he finally has to say to himself I will go back to my lopsided life of being Spider-Man and just down this road of responsibility. Unfortunately it's like a prison sentence to him."
You can read more of the interview right here. SPIDER-MAN 2 opens next Wednesday, June 30. [Coming Soon.]
June 30, 2004... The Hollywood Reporter reports today that the story we firsdt brought you yesterday is indeed correct: the IMAX Corporation will show SPIDER-MAN 2 in its DMR format sometime this summer.
The matter of what will happen to the planned IMAX release of Warner Bros. CATWOMAN feature has also been settled: the company won't release their upcoming superheroine movie on IMAX screens after all. According to Warner Bros. President of Distribution Dan Fellman, CATWOMAN's visual effects were completed late and as such not enough time is left to make copies of the film in both IMAX and 35mm formats. [THR.]
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