'The Amazing Spider-Man' Makers Lock Down Sequel Writers
by Sean Comer
The Amazing Spider-Man" src="//cfm.yidio.com/images/article/images/_1199x1600_5904.jpg" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: left; width: 300px; height: 400px; " />Sony, this takes some nerve.
The studio's huge franchise reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man" doesn't even hit theaters until July 3, but J.J. Abrams collaborators Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci have already agreed to pen a sequel, E! Online reports.
For what it's worth, if ever Sony believed that they've successfully resuscitated the Marvel web-slinger's good name, their choice in creative duos proves it. Kurtzman and Orci co-wrote Abrams' wildly successful 2009 "Star Trek" reboot and both wrote and will executive produce the in-production sequel.
As E! correctly points out, the original three "Spider-Man" movies grossed a combined $2.4 billion on the backs of late producer Laura Ziskin, director Sam Raimi, web-slinger Tobey Maguire and Mary Jane Watson leading lady Kirsten Dunst. Though a bona fide financial hit, 2007's "Spider-Man 3" was notoriously derided by fans for taking on a goofier tone and for holding off fully revealing anticipated villain Venom until the movie's last 20 minutes or so.
According to the E! report, Sony predicts that "The Amazing Spider-Man", starring James Garfield as a Peter Parker/Spider-Man more rooted in Marvel's more contemporarily-colored "Ultimate" universe, will make bank on par with the original Raimi-led trilogy.
To their credit, Orci and Kurtzman are more than just two of the most solid vertebrae in the backbone of Abrams' "Star Trek" line. They've also worked on Paramount's first two "Transformers" films, "Mission: Impossible III" and "Eagle Eye" - none of which exactly bombed. They'll be working from "The Amazing Spider-Man" co-writer James Vanderbilt's initial draft.
Though Sony has remained tight-lipped about what could follow this summer's rehashed origin, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" shooting could commence as soon as 2013, with a possible 2014 release.