Filmonic » Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi going ‘back to basics’ with Spider-Man 4, talks 5 & 6

Liam — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:14:43 +0000

Sam Raimi has been interviewed quite a lot recently and earlier this week he was talking about possible villains for Spider-Man 4. Today Coventry Blog have a quote from him saying that he agrees that there were too many villains in Spider-Man 3, and that he learned ‘limitations’ while filming Drag Me To Hell which he hopes to bring to Spider-Man 4:

Asked about complaints that there were too many villains in Spider-Man 3, he said: “I think having so many villains detracted from the experience. I would agree with the criticism.”
Raimi added that he had learned some new lessons and storytelling tricks from his last film, Drag Me to Hell. “I think I’ve learned about the importance of getting to the point and the importance of having limitations, and I’m hoping to take that into a production where I’m actually allowed to explore with more of the tools to pull it off with a little more splendor.
“I hope I don’t lose that edge that I’ve just found. That would be my approach to ‘Spider-Man 4′: to get back to the basics.”

Raimi was also asked by MTV whether he would return to direct Spider-Man 5 and 6 which are currently being written by James Vanderbilt:

“Every time I make one of the ‘Spider-Man’ movies, I have to ask myself, is the character still intriguing to me?” Raimi told MTV News. “Do I love the character? Am I dying to tell the next story of Peter Parker and Spider-Man?”
“And so far the answer has been yes,” he said.
“If ever I feel sated, like I’ve got no more to say or I’m not really super-excited about it,” Raimi continued, “because I know I’ll also love it, but I’ve got to be super-excited about it. If I can’t reach that level of commitment and excitement, I think then there’d be somebody else better to do justice to the story.”
“You have to ask me in two-and-half years,” he laughed.

If Raimi decides to return in a few years there is always the question of whether Tobey Maguire will. Does he want to make 6 Spider-Man movies? If not there has been talk that 5 and 6 would reboot the franchise and another actor would come on-board as Peter Parker. They’ll have to wait a few years though as I don’t think the audience will be willing to accept a new Spider-Man that quickly.

Sam Raimi talks Spider-Man 4 villains

Liam — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:28:29 +0000

It doesn’t take a person with high intelligence to work out that Spider-Man 4 director Sam Raimi won’t be revealing any important plot points or possible villains at this stage in the game, but Splash Page tried to get something out of him, and while he didn’t let anything out (as expected) he did talk about the thought process behind choosing the next villain.

“I love the Lizard,” said Raimi. “There’s a great story there in the Marvel comic books about Dr. Connors. I’m less familiar with Carnage.”
Raimi then took a long pause. “I’m not allowed to say at this point,” he confessed.
“What we’re trying to do right now is really understand the journey Peter is going to go on this time and have the villain maybe be a counter to that growth, something that he has to overcome,” Raimi said. “Or maybe he has to grow in a way to overcome the villain, because there always seem to be stories of coming of age, of a young man growing up and learning things about life, so once we are identifying the exact movement that Peter has to grow to, I think the villain—and we’re trying this right now; we’re trying to choose a villain based on who would be the proper counter to that growth, so we really have dramatic conflict.”

I hope they go for the Lizard. It’d be interesting to see how Peter Parker deals with his professor turning into a reptilian humanoid monster. I’m not sure how the Lizard would cause Parker to grow as a person though. Maybe he has a phobia of reptiles?

Saving Private Ryan writer Robert Rodat tackling WarCraft

Liam — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:34:47 +0000

We haven’t heard anything on the upcoming WarCraft movie since it was announced that Spider-Man director Sam Raimi would be directing. Raimi recently said that Spider-Man 4 would begin filming next March, so there is still over a year or so until he can turn his attention to WarCraft. In the meantime, however, Robert Rodat will be working on the script.

From MTV:

Among the revelations Raimi had to share was the news that “Saving Private Ryan” writer Robert Rodat will be tackling the “Warcraft” script as well (a subsequent call to Rodat’s agent confirmed this as true).
Raimi confirmed that the story, which had previously been believed to be an adaptation of the book “Arthas: Rise of the Lich King” after the IMDB listing changed (it has since changed back), will actually be an original effort based in the universe of the popular online role-playing game. “We would choose… something that encompasses lands and characters and storylines, and we would be true to it. But our story may or may not be about one of those central characters.”
The aim is to adapt the game, rather than a previously conceived story written within that world. “We want to be really faithful to the game,” Raimi said. “We would have our writer, Robert Rodat, really craft an original story within that world that feels like a ‘World of WarCraft’ adventure. Only obviously it’s very different ’cause it’s expanded and translated into the world of a motion picture.”
Raimi understands that there’s a massive “Warcraft” fanbase out there, and a need to serve those fans as much as he serves the need to create a mass-marketable event film. The hope is that they’ll properly capture “the Horde and the Alliance and the mythology that takes place in the game, and the archetypes that the game presents. I think we would try and find touchstones within the game to make it accurate and true and choose one or some of the lands that are portrayed in the game with as much accuracy and authenticity as possible.”

Blizzard have said in the past that they want to do this right, and they want to make a great movie. With Sam Raimi on-board that looked likely, and now they’ve got an Oscar nominated writer to work on the script. Things are looking good, although it’ll be a while before it hits the big screen.

Spider-Man 4 to start filming in March

Liam — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:57:26 +0000

Earlier this week we learned that Gary Ross would be re-writing Venom and may end up directing, however Spider-Man director Sam Raimi recently told Splash Page that at the moment Ross is still hard at work on the script for Spider-Man 4. Raimi also said that pre-production is coming together and they hope to start filming next March.

“We’re hoping that it’s the first week in March,” said Raimi.
At the moment, pre-production is in full swing, even as screenwriter Gary Ross (”great director and a very fine writer,” said Raimi) continues to work on the script.
“He’s working on a draft,” he continued. “I just gave him some notes and he’s doing a rewrite right now.”
On other fronts, “Spider-Man 4″ continues to chug along. “The production is starting to come together,” Raimi told us. “I’ve got a production designer who is starting to design the sets and the environments that the picture will take place in. We just brought aboard Scott Stokdyk as one of the two visual effects supervisors, and I worked with him on all three ‘Spider-man’ pictures.”
With Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst set to reprise their roles, Raimi and his team will soon turn their attention to filling out the rest of the cast. “None of the casting has really taken place, but we’re starting to think about that now,” the director said.

I doubt we will know which villain(s) will be involved until the casting gets under-way in a few weeks/month.

Now is a good time to be a Spider-Man fan with both Spider-Man 4 and Venom in the works. I think Raimi knows what mistakes were made last time round so Spider-Man 4 has the potential to be better than Spider-Man 3.

James Vanderbilt to write Spider-Man 5 & 6

Liam — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:27:24 +0000

Sony haven’t got a Spider-Man 4 script worthy of shooting yet, but that hasn’t stopped them from hiring James Vanderbilt to write the scripts for Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6. Vanderbilt wrote the first draft for Spider-Man 4, and then David Lindsay-Abaire was brought on board to do a rewrite, and now Gary Ross doing a rewriting of that.

From Variety:

Raimi didn’t embrace all of Vanderbilt’s ideas, but execs at Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios have. Vanderbilt has been hired to pen the fifth and sixth movies, which have an interconnected storyline. That’s what was originally discussed when Vanderbilt signed on to write “Spider-Man 4,” but the idea of shooting a fourth and fifth film back to back with the original cast was scrapped.
Sources said it was unclear whether Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will be back. If they aren’t, Vanderbilt’s script would be the blueprint for a franchise reboot. After committing to his fourth “Spider-Man” film, Raimi signed on to direct a new franchise based on the massively multiplayer role-playing online computer game “World of Warcraft” for Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Maguire and Dunst were locked into the first three pictures and made a new deal for “Spider-Man 4.” It’s unclear how long they want to continue with the series.

Spider-Man 4 starts filming next year for a May 2011 release, and if it ends up as good as Spider-Man 2 and makes gazillions like the previous films then why the hell not make a Spider-Man 5? However, if 5 is a reboot they’ll have to wait a few years before giving it too us. We accepted Hulk because the first one wasn’t all that, but Spider-Man is a tad more popular and rebooting that universe won’t be as easy.

Sam Raimi directing World of Warcraft

Liam — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:50:57 +0000

Spider-Man and Drag Me to Hell director Sam Raimi has signed on to direct the World of Warcraft movie. AICN got the scoop, which was later confirmed by Variety. Blizzard Entertainment have been slowly developing the film over the past few years and were adamant on getting a top director on-board. In the past they said they wanted someone of Zack Snyder/Christopher Nolan calibre, and Sam Raimi certainly slots into that category.

From Variety:

The plan is for Raimi to supervise development of “Warcraft” and shoot the picture after he completes work on “Spider-Man 4,” which gets under way early next year for Columbia Pictures.
The “Warcraft” universe features an epic conflict between the Horde and the Alliance. The game has developed a global following since its launch in 1994 and shows no signs of slowing. Its most recent expansion, “Wrath of the Lich King,” sold more than 2.8 million copies in the first day of release and more than 4 million its first month.
“Warcraft” is “emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which our studio is best known,” said Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov. The deal revives a long-dormant pact made by Legendary and Blizzard for a film adaptation of the game.
“At its core, ‘Warcraft’ is a fantastic, action-packed story,” Raimi said in a statement.

I like that Blizzard have taken their time and are assembling a great creative team to work on it. They could have easily just given it to someone like Uwe Boll to ruin. It’s interesting to note that Sam Raimi was once in talks to direct The Hobbit. It seems his urge to direct a big fantasy movie eventually lead him to World of Warcraft.

Does anyone play World of Warcraft? How do feel about Sam Raimi directing? Will it just be a Lord of the Rings knock-off?

Kirsten Dunst back for Spider-Man 4 says producer

Liam — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:07:35 +0000

It was announced that Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi would be back for Spider-Man 4 roughly around the same time, and ever since then there has been a ‘will she, won’t see’ scenario regarding whether Kirsten Dunst would be returning to play Mary Jane. Over the past few months and weeks Raimi has said in a number of interviews that he has spoken to her about it, however now producer Todd Black has confirmed that she will “definitely” be back.

From NYPost:

- Kirsten Dunst is definitely on board. Last month, director Sam Raimi was quoted as saying he didn’t know if the actor was going to sign up to play Mary Jane again, but it appears that she has.
- Contrary to online rumors, it doesn’t look like the script will feature a wedding between Mary Jane and Peter Parker. Black had no knowledge of that subplot.

Mary Jane has been Peter Parker’s girl throughout the trilogy, and it wouldn’t feel right if she were to just disappear so I’m glad Dunst it back.

In other Spidey news Todd Black also says that Morbius the vampire will be not the villain, however he did give us a hint as to who it may be.

“We’re just coming up with who the villain’s going to be now. We’ll be shooting in New York again. Trust me, people will appreciate who we pick, because it’ll be a big part of New York.”

Any ideas? I’d like to see Dylan Baker finally get a meaty role out of Dr. Curt Connors. In the past he’s just popped in and out when convenient to the plot, however next time I hope we get to see him become The Lizard. I wouldn’t mind seeing Black Cat either.

Spider-Man 4 teaser poster

Liam — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:52:49 +0000

Director Sam Raimi has yet to see the latest draft of the script from David Lindsay-Abaire, however that hasn’t stopped Sony from revealing a teaser poster for Spider-Man 4 at ‘the Licensing Show’ (whatever that is). AICN managed to take a few snaps:

It’s not the best quality but it’s something. To see more early posters including ones of Thor, Iron Man 2, Captain America and The Avengers, click here and here.

Sam Raimi talks Spider-Man 4. Acknowledges mistakes from previous films.

Liam — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:17:03 +0000

Cinematical recently got the chance to speak to Drag Me to Hell director Sam Raimi, and obviously questions about Spider-Man 4 came up. Raimi spoke mostly about the mistakes he has made with the previous Spider-Man films, and that it is partly because of those mistakes that made him decide to make Spider-Man 4.

As far as Spider-Man, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about what people didn’t like and missteps that I’d made. But I learned those lessons on the previous two, I was just a little quieter about them. I made a lot of mistakes, and it’s part of the reason I so want to make this next story of Peter Parker.”
Raimi continued, “I really think I know in my heart who the character is, and I haven’t quite been able to sing the song yet, or bring it out to the extent or degree of detail that I feel in my heart that I can. And I may not be successful, but I still feel like I know it better than I’m able to play it; I feel like the kid that really practiced at the piano recital, with years of comic books, and when I got to my other recitals, I sometimes made some missteps with them. There’s a whole crowd there and they think that’s as well as I know the piece, but I really do know it a lot better than that and I would like one more chance at that character. The Spider-Man films, I’ve made mistakes, but I really do look at them as things that I’ve learned, and hope that when I apply what I’ve learned to this next one, I really make a film that people enjoy and is really true to the character in a fresh, original way. That’s my goal.”

I enjoyed Spider-Man 3, however there were a couple of issues that stuck out, such as emo Peter Parker, too many villains, and the huge amount of coincidences that took place simply to move the story forward. I have a feeling that if Raimi is left to make the film he wants he could make a great Spider-Man 4.

Sam Raimi also spoke to SplashPage (he’s on the rounds for Drag Me to Hell) and revealed that he has spoken to Kirsten Dunst about her returning:

“Kirsten? I have talked with her, and she’s very excited about the possibility of it,” Raimi revealed, insisting that although Dunst is willing, it will be the director’s call to make after he reads the script by Lindsay-Abaire. “I think I’m going to have to read the screenplay and make sure everything we’ve talked about is working, before I could honestly tell you absolutely how [Dunst’s possible return] would go.”

Sam Raimi should be receiving a Spider-Man 4 draft in 3 weeks

Liam — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:38:47 +0000

JoBlo.com were at a recent press event and Spider-Man director Sam Raimi told them that he should be getting a draft of the Spider-Man 4 script soon.

“I’ve just started working on the next installment of the Spiderman series. David Lindsay-Abaire is in New York right now writing the screenplay and I am going to receive a draft of it in about 3 weeks I think.”

This will probably be one draft of many, so whatever the script contains it could change between now and filming, which should start sometime next year if they want to hit their May 2011 release date.