Spider-Man: Homecoming ($874,357,374)

ForeverBlu wrote:SMDH...

ForeverBlu wrote:It's stupid to reboot this franchise a third time.

WyldeMan wrote:People immediately went back to yelling Donald Glover's name.

Despite their public protestations to the contrary, it looks like Sony is working with licensing Spider-man to Disney for use in Marvel's Captain America 3. Just not with Andrew Garfield in the spidey-suit.


The widely-rumored revelation comes from the email inbox of Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal, part of an unprecedented hack last month with new details continuing to leak out every day.

The Amazing Spider-man 2 was not the domestic success Sony needed it to be. Emails obtained by Mashable show that Sony had agreed to shelve plans for a writing deal on Amazing Spider-man 3 as of August 8, 2014.

Moreover, it appears that Garfield may be out as Spider-man altogether. Garfield has been praised for his performance as Peter Parker, but his critical remarks that seemed to blame the studio for Amazing Spider-man 2's tepid box office and critical reception may have annoyed the wrong people.
Garfield also stood up Sony at a corporate dinner in July. Garfield's attendance was going to be mentioned by Sony CEO Kaz Hirai and he was supposed to sit with some top Sony executives. His absence (with less than an hour of notice) was seen as an affront and slight by the company's Tokyo bosses.
As of October 2014, it looks like Garfield is out of the franchise for good. In an email to The Amazing Spider-Man franchise producer Matthew Tolmach, Pascal outlines some potential plans for introducing the new Peter Parker and Spider-Man characters in Captain America 3.

I love introducing pp [Peter Parker] in cap but I know it comes with so many things since we won't give them what they want what will we give them?
We can say it's a cameo but I'll bet it's more and will involve some of his world and it will be peter and spidey right

In an email memo to herself sent on Oct. 21, 2014, Pascal reflected on the current state of the Spider-man franchise and outlined thoughts and questions related to how the Spider-man character could appear in Captain America 3.

cap thre only:
2. if we have spiderman in cap 3. what is our fee
and our back end. need script approval, casting approval of sm and aunt may and consultation of mays house in queens and any other spiderman locations we may need in future movies. also approval of new spiderman costume> how long is he is the movie? how closely does it follow the civil war story line? does the world find out who spiderman is? are there any other characters from the spiderman universe they are using? can we use one of the marvel characters in our future spiderman movies not produced by marvel.can we use cap to set up ss? can drew work with the russos to get this done? are we renting him out?

In the memo, Pascal also wanted to find out the status of Spider-man merchandise and how that would be impacted from an appearance in Captain America 3.

1. current state of spiderman merchandise...where were they in 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2013, 2014....we need a base to measure this by? will it increase the value of not just spiderman but the other characters as well. can we put a value on this? what is the cap america merch? avengers? iron man?
   
   
2. how can we put a box office value on allowing spiderman to be in cap? what is the good publicity worth to them and their movie and what is the opposite worth to us? can we put a box office value on putting spidey in their movie? not free.
   
   

Through the memo, Pascal expresses questions and concerns about how Sony can remain involved in the process.

1. how do we participate n the process. read the script. meet the russos. early cuts of the movie various approvals
   
   

Moving on to a standalone Spider-man film, Pascal outlines some potential options on working on a film for a rebooted (again) franchise, using the actor cast in Captain America 3.

one time spiderman movie:
have to commit to a release date in 2017 which means we need to be shooting in winter 2015-2016
we finance the movie entirely and approve budget
we retain casting script director and budget approvals
marvel isnthe producer of the movie only and disney gets the merchandising and they help us like they did but even more so
we market and distribute the movie.....they have no approval of the marketing budget.
they have consultation in marketing materials because they are really good bu they dont have a tie breaker

The questions about a Spider-Man standalone would include what to do with Sony's planned Sinister Six film, slated for release in November 2016, as well as what to do with the team of individuals already involved with the Spider-man and Sinister Six projects at Sony.

would we have to dismantle ss?
can drew goddard write the sm original?
who would direct the sm movie?
what do we do with matt tolmach and avi?
they can not put spidey in future spiderman movies or team ups.
we need to keep animation rights for a theatrical relaesse spiderman move to be directed by lord and miller
we need to be able to make spiderman movies after this movie
we need to be able to make the girl team up movie
is it possible to put spidey in worlds without other characcters once we is with iron man and cap
can we have him in cap and then 6 months later in ss
comingle everything
we have a right to co finance any movie that spiderman is in and get a production credit
we get to make future movies with our characters and theirs in a collorative way but we dont need their approval
marvel produces a bunch of spiderman movies for sony the way they do for disney....all spiderman dominent movie are financed snd marketed by us event though disney will have the mrech on eerything
we can put the marvel and even disney logo on ours if we can put sony on theirs
morale and publicity
persception

This memo was drafted in October, nearly two months ago, which means that circumstances could have very much changed. Still, it's clear from this memo that Sony and Marvel have been in talks about licensing the Spider-man character.

ForeverBlu wrote:Was this the Jobs biopic Bale dropped out of?

Rusty Cunt wrote:My God! How do these people have careers? Crap like that, no wonder Sony's in the financial shitter that they're in.

The emails from the hacked documents, obtained by Variety, show studio toppers Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton looking to animation “to turn the studio around.” They hoped to install a Pixar-style “brain trust” of filmmakers at the top of Sony Pictures Animation. Lord and Miller were being courted to head that group; other names being floated included Brad Bird.



Lord and Miller, who directed “The Lego Movie” as well as SPA’s “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” and the studio’s “Jump Street” live-action comedy hits, met with Pascal last summer to discuss what such a brain trust might look like. Lord and Miller even suggested they would approach Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to join that team. “Can you imagine that world — the projects, the talent we’d attract, the money we’d make,” Pascal wrote to Lynton.

Pascal acknowledged in the email that Lord and Miller were tied up making four “Lego” pictures at Warner Bros. through 2015. But when the pair were asked to detail any concerns they might have about coming to Sony, Lord wrote an email to Hannah Minghella, the former Sony Pictures Animation chief who now works for Pascal exclusively on the live-action side. He cited the bad reputation of Sony Pictures Animation and the studio’s visual effects unit Sony Pictures Imageworks, a reputation that developed from the loss of key talent from both divisions and Imageworks’ move to Vancouver.

“It’s too hard to do great work there,” wrote Lord to Minghella, in answer to Sony’s query.

Their assessment was only slightly harsher than an internal assessment that Minghella had sent to Pascal a day earlier. On July 31, she emailed Pascal, with subject line “Confidential” (ellipses in original):
“Objective: We want the creative direction of the company, and the projects, to be run by creatives… either an individual or a brain trust: Lord & Miller, Brad Bird, Will Gluck… (Lindsay Doran).”
Minghella outlined how such a brain trust might work, then turned to:
“Current Problems:
- low morale negatively impacts talent retention.

- studio reputation negatively impacts talent recruitment
- only one (proven) director in-house: Genndy.
- SPA no longer has the competitive edge it had before Fox, Universal, and Paramount started their animation divisions.

- ImageWorks moving to Vancouver also impacts the competitive edge that came from being LA based
- limited financial success compared with other animated titles – what are the drivers of this: Quality? Originality? Marketing? Dating?
- limited number of active projects/franchises – Cloudy, Hotel T, Smurfs, Popeye
- does the relationship with ImageWorks help or hinder SPA?”
(Genndy is “Hotel Transylvania” director Genndy Tartakovsky.)


The ensuing emails suggest that until they attempted to recruit Lord and Miller, Sony’s top brass was generally uninformed about the decline of Imageworks and the ill will that the studio’s personnel practices had generated in the vfx and animation community.


After receiving Minghella’s honest assessment, Pascal had an email exchange with Lynton about their efforts to make Lord & Miller “our john lassiter” (sic). Pascal wrote to Lynton that Lord & Miller were excited about taking such a leadership role, but:



“… they say we have lost every good person we had there and it’s a travesty”


She also added that Lord & Miller had floated the idea of approaching Rogen and Goldberg, among others, to join that brain trust. “i’m having lunch with brad bird today to talk about it with him as well…this is our shot,” wrote Pascal.


Lynton responded: “why have all the good people left our place????”


Later that morning Lord emailed Minghella a list of key talent that had left Imageworks; according to Lord and Miller’s reps, they sent that message in response to a request from Sony for feedback on why they were reluctant to return. Lord wrote that he and Miller felt that at Sony “artists have been treated like paper, and it’s too hard to do great work there,” adding, “What’s not measured by who left is who never came because the reputation was so bad.” Minghella forwarded the message to Pascal.


Lynton wrote to Pascal and pointed a finger at Sony Pictures Digital president Bob Osher, who oversees Sony Animation and Imageworks. Lynton implied that Osher would have to be fired. Pascal responded that Osher’s “cost savings stuff” at Imageworks was “amazing.”


“I am only sorry that left bob to his own devices and let it get to this point. And we just renewed Bob which is also a problem given what we will probably have to do. That being said we should do it,” Lynton said in his email to Pascal.


Pascal wrote back to Lynton about the brain drain at SPA and Imageworks. She repeated some of the names Lord had provided and added: “we gotta hold on to these folks.”
“we know this is an impossible situation… a much tooo great an asset to waste not to mention a real way to turn the studio around…..we have lost the competitive advantages we had when we were the only option for people who wanted to leave disney dreamworks or pixar as well as the advantages we had to get local talent when imageworks was one of the few remaining la based options. more than ever we have to rely on our reputation as a place for creative innovation and excellence and we don’t have that reputation or reality anymore.”

In the early years of this century, Imageworks was known for driving up wages for vfx pros, to the dismay of management at its competitors. One of the “big four” vfx studios, along with Industrial Light & Magic, Digital Domain and Rhythm & Hues Studios, it was a regular Oscar contender and would work on several tentpoles each year, in addition to supplying the animation for SPA. Imageworks planned to support the low-margin vfx business with profits from animation, which has been successful for every other studio.
But SPA’s pictures have underperformed relative to the competition. One of the studio’s biggest hits was Lord and Miller’s “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.”
Over the years Imageworks shifted away from permanent jobs to a crew model, where artists are hired only for the duration of a show, which slashed personnel costs. Imageworks shifted more and more work from Los Angeles to Vancouver, and employees have complained that they were pressured to move to Vancouver, only to find that there was no job waiting for them, just an opportunity to be hired onto the next Imageworks project. In May, the division moved its HQ and all production to Vancouver.


During the summer of 2013, Imageworks did not work on a single summer tentpole. This year it had Sony’s own “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ and contributed to Marvel’s releases.

All this has larger implications. First, Lord and Miller’s complaints about the move to Vancouver bolster arguments that runaway production — and the unchecked pursuit of short-term profit — will ultimately do these companies more harm than good.

Second, it suggests that Sony’s top leaders were somehow unaware of the issues afflicting not just Imageworks, but the entire vfx industry, despite numerous news reports, public protests, and even the grievances raised by the Imageworks unionization org SPI Union.

ForeverBlu wrote:I like Fassy, but just can't picture him as Steve Jobs.

Guess it never occurred to ANYONE, to offer the role to Aaron Eckhart.

Lesser known has been working well recently with biopics, like with Chadwick Boseman, Eddie Redmayne and David Oyelowo.

Rusty Cunt wrote:The $45 Million is a Fincher thing.

As you should already know by now, talks took place between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios earlier this year about Spider-Man making an appearance in Captain America: Civil War. Despite the fact that those apparently later fell apart, Michael De Luca, co-president of production for Columbia Pictures, at one point sent an email to Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, saying: "I really feel, in my heart of hearts, that the new spiderman [sic] in cap 3 could just appear in his own film, be it sinister six or a kick ass spidey film of his own, after that intro in cap 3 and people would be cool with it." In an earlier email from September (seemingly before Sony started talking about the Marvel deal), plans were indeed being discussed for both a "female spidey movie" and what the site goes on to describe as an, "Avengers-like superhero extravaganza incorporating characters from different upcoming Spider-Man-related projects." Wait, what?!

In fact, De Luca is quoted directly as saying, "Seems to me maybe, since the Spider-man universe itself is deep, you guys should look at sinister six, new spidey, female movie and venom as linked pieces leading to eventual mega movie ala Feige and Fox and not stand alone single films. It's early in all these and you can still map out a blueprint for connective tissue." This sounds absolutely nonsensical...were they really planning on throwing all of these characters into a single movie in the hopes that it would somehow work like The Avengers and the planned Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover? Seriously guys, just make that fucking deal with Marvel already...

And the Spider-Man drama continues. Back when all this mess began to unravel, it was said that a meeting was to occur between executives from super hero powerhouse Marvel and the struggling Sony to see if something could be hashed out to include Spider-Man in the MCU. Since then, we’ve heard nothing more on the topic, as the focus has been turned to Andrew Garfield’s status as the web-slinger.


This morning, we come to you bearing a holiday gift in the form of a scoop. According to our sources, a meeting with executives from Marvel and Sony is to be held in January at Pinewood Studios, where the Avengers, along with numerous other popular movies, has been filming. This meeting of the minds will include Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal. We don’t have a ton of details, but we should have some “good news” come February, or at the very latest, just before the release of Age of Ultron in May, which makes a little more sense.


One plan, according to the source, is that Marvel would include an after-credits stinger that would center on Spider-Man. As we can expect, filming for Captain America: Civil War is gearing up for a February/March start, so the timing would certainly fit to get something like this filmed. Our source tells us they are prepping 3 stages at Pinewood in anticipation of the Cap 3 project.


It appears that Feige is very pleased with the direction things are going in regards to a deal with Sony. As we know, Joe and Anthony Russo will be directing the third Captain America film, but they also plan on directing The Gray Man for Sony, before going on to (reportedly) direct Avengers: Infinity War. The plan, according to our insider, is that the Russo Brothers would then tackle a new Spider-Man trilogy, taking on directing and writing tasks. They don’t have anyone cast yet, but they certainly have a list of potentials they are going over once the deal is done.


Kevin Feige is very adamant about one thing: He wants Avi Arad out and Marvel seems to be backing him on this. Should this deal happen, Arad will be nowhere near the Spider-Man movies. However, Pascal and other Sony execs feel he’s a crucial part of the previous Spidey films and feel he needs to stick around.


If you ask this nerd, and many will agree, I feel that Arad has been the one holding the franchise back and that should this deal happen, Marvel will win on that front. Sony is over a barrel and they know they need Marvel to keep Spider-Man relevant at this point.


We’ll be sure to update should we have more information come our way, but it appears talks between Marvel and Sony are far from over and that Marvel is pleased enough with the talks that they are already looking at a list of names to take on the mantle of Spider-Man. Things will need to move quickly once the deal is done in order to be ready for filming in a few short months.

Jeff Robinov, head of Studio 8 (who has a deal with Sony) sent word to Pascal about a possible reboot scenario. He argues that there’s always room for Spider-Man movies in the marketplace, comparing it to James Bond, and mentioning that there’s no need for another origin story if a reboot is going ahead, writing “In the next Spider-Man movies, we can’t go back to his origin story. Think of the 25 films in the James Bond franchise; just because a new creative team comes aboard, and breathes new life into a classic property, doesn’t mean the origin story has to be retold.”


Possible directors for this includes Brad Bird, Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (Frozen), Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), Joe Cornish, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid Love), James Gunn, Don Hall and Chris Williams (Big Hero 6), Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki), Colin Trevorrow, Edgar Wright, and David Yates.


He then goes on to outline a possible story. That would be an adaption of the widely popular Kraven’s Last Hunt storyline:

I might suggest looking at what is widely thought to be the most beloved Spider-Man storyline of all time – “Kraven’s Last Hunt” – which ran across Amazing Spider-Man #293-294, Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132, and Web of Spider-Man #31-32. (In fact, Comic Book Resources polled their readers in 2012, and this storyline was voted as the single greatest Spider-Man storyline of all time.)
In it, Kraven the Hunter tracks down Spider-Man, shoots him repeatedly, and leaves him for dead, buried underground. He then dons a Spider-Man costume and savagely starts attacking criminals.
What makes this story resonate with fans is that it proves it takes more than just the costume to become “Spider-Man.” No matter what he’s wearing, or what predicament he’s facing, Peter Parker is sensitive, passionate, and connected to those he’s interacting with in a very powerful way. It’s not Peter’s powers that make him special – Kraven, and every other superhuman in the Marvel Universe, all have powers. Peter is special because of his values, because of what drives him, because of the lessons he’s learned from Uncle Ben’s death, and because of his love for Mary Jane. I’ve pasted a few pivotal pages from this book so you can see just how intense this storyline is.
We also get to see how Mary Jane deals with Peter’s disappearance, and how she would react if Peter ever died in action.

If that doesn’t work, he thinks a story looking at an adult version of Peter Parker would work just as well. He argues, “Spidey hasn’t remained a teenager over the 52 years he’s been around. He’s moved in with his girlfriend, gotten married, and in some storylines, even became a science teacher at a high school. It might feel fresh to see Peter Parker juggling with adult issues. He’s done so in the comics for decades, and kids still found this fun to read.“
And last, but certainly not least, another report from The Daily Beast hints that Ryan Gosling could be doing one of two big projects with Sony. The actor is interested in Ghostbusters apparently. There is one big male role in the film from Paul Feig . Gosling really wants that one. The studio would also love to have him in the Sinister Six movie (if it happens) too. The actor was being eyed for DC and Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad, and it seems Sony really wants the hunky actor to be part of their version of a villain team-up film.


So basically Sony‘s troubles are getting worse and worse, but the main whipping boy is Peter Parker. Nobody knows what to do with him and they want a lot from Marvel for any sort of crossover deal. It is apparent Sony needs Marvel much more than Marvel needs Spider-Man, so the negotiations have drastically shifted. Regardless of what happens next, decisions are said to be discussed and made in January. That means we’ll know something before too awful long. It’s a mess and anything could happen. There are a lot of moving parts and these hacks have thrown wrenches in all of them. What do you think about the latest dose of craziness that is Spidey‘s problems?

UltimateMarvel wrote:Too much fucking drama going on right now. I think it's a great idea to include him in Civil War and I hope Garfield returns for that at least

WyldeMan wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:Too much fucking drama going on right now. I think it's a great idea to include him in Civil War and I hope Garfield returns for that at least

The disrespect like he showed to the Japanese guaranteed he'd be fired and he knew it, they do not take that shit....at all. I think it'll be a huge disservice to the character to lose Garfield, but I have good ideas so that's why I don't work in Hollywood.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I read he cancelled last minute to show up to some kind of dinner gathering or something to promote the movie. While that may be seen as rude by some cultures, I don't think termination is the answer.

WyldeMan wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:I read he cancelled last minute to show up to some kind of dinner gathering or something to promote the movie. While that may be seen as rude by some cultures, I don't think termination is the answer.

You have clearly never dealt with the Japanese in business...

UltimateMarvel wrote:lol! Obviously, I haven't. I know they value respect in their workplace and I guess showing up to things is a sign of that. But shouldn't they also in turn respect other cultures too and not view everything by their standards of what's considered to be the norm?

Garfield also stood up Sony at a corporate dinner in July. Garfield's attendance was going to be mentioned by Sony CEO Kaz Hirai and he was supposed to sit with some top Sony executives. His absence (with less than an hour of notice) was seen as an affront and slight by the company's Tokyo bosses.

Rusty Cunt wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:

lol! Obviously, I haven't. I know they value respect in their workplace and I guess showing up to things is a sign of that. But shouldn't they also in turn respect other cultures too and not view everything by their standards of what's considered to be the norm?

Not if he did it in Japan.

WyldeMan wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:lol! Obviously, I haven't. I know they value respect in their workplace and I guess showing up to things is a sign of that. But shouldn't they also in turn respect other cultures too and not view everything by their standards of what's considered to be the norm?

Yes, showing up to meetings is a sign of respect and after that it was done for him, they began demanding he be fired almost immediately after. He also spoke out against Sony and rightfully so for why ASM2 failed, people don't like facts. FACT.

WyldeMan wrote:Abe, you must have missed this because it was in the middle of an article I posted and you dont ever get that far.

Garfield also stood up Sony at a corporate dinner in July. Garfield's attendance was going to be mentioned by Sony CEO Kaz Hirai and he was supposed to sit with some top Sony executives. His absence (with less than an hour of notice) was seen as an affront and slight by the company's Tokyo bosses.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I read that and I was actually referring to that earlier. Is that "also" supposed to mean that this was his second time?

WyldeMan wrote:

UltimateMarvel wrote:I read that and I was actually referring to that earlier. Is that "also" supposed to mean that this was his second time?

No, the first incident was him criticizing studios, the journalist was remarking that on top of that he'd also offended Sony Japan.

I'm gonna write him up a note this weekend. But, off the top of my head, some possible talking points are:
 
- We're doing something different - it's time to celebrate the bad guys for once.
-We're inspired by the classic team/mission of movies: Dirty Dozen, Magnificent Seven, Guns of Navarone. We want that spirit, that SWAGGER.
- If the Spider-Man franchiseis the Beatles, then we're the Sex Pistols.
-Flint Marco is gonna steal the show.
-The character is pure id - the anarchic enthusiast of the team. A chance to have FUN while celebrating being bad.
-Tom embodies that anarchy, that triumphant nihilism - we've seen him tap into that spirit before in roles like Bronson, but now we have the chance to crank the volume up to ELEVEN. 
-He's gonna storm through London at the end like God-f***ing-zilla. That is not purple prose. He'sgoing to be AS TALL AS A SKYSCRAPER in the third act of the movie. What does Dr. Strange have? Magic tricks? [frick] you, magic tricks - we've got a skyscraper Tom Hardy knocking down buildings!!!!

"Fuck you, magic tricks - we've got a skyscraper Tom Hardy knocking down buildings!"