Sony and Marvel had talks about a Spider-Man Movie Crossover

[andrew8798]

Sony Pictures has considered partnering with Marvel, bringing back director Sam Raimi, and producing an animated comedy as it looks to revamp its big screen strategy for “Spider-Man.”

Details of the discussions are contained in e-mails to and from Sony’s motion picture chief Amy Pascal, which were released on the Internet by hackers this week.

The e-mails reveal extensive discussions between executives at Sony and Marvel owner Walt Disney, all the way up to their respective chief executives Kaz Hirai and Robert Iger.

In an Oct. 30 e-mail, Sony Pictures president Doug Belgrad tells Ms. Pascal about a potential scenario that would see Marvel produce a new trilogy of Spider-Man movies while Sony retains “creative control, marketing and distribution.”

In a separate e-mail, Ms. Pascal tells a business partner that Marvel wanted to include Spider-Man in its planned third “Captain America” movie.

Some fanboys have clamored for Marvel Studios, which producers the blockbuster “Avengers” and “Iron Man” films, to take back control of Spider-Man from Sony, which has a long-term license. Sony’s last Spider-Man movie, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” received a mixed reaction from fans and modestly underperformed at the box office.

The talks with Marvel eventually broke down and Sony is now planning to go ahead with its own Spider-Man slate, according to people familiar with the matter. As of late November, executives were planning a “Spidey summit” for January to discuss future plans. Among projects in development are an animated Spider-Man comedy that would be produced by Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the team behind “22 Jump Street” and “The Lego Movie,” as well as previously disclosed Spider-Man spin-offs focused on villain team Sinister Six, super-foe Venom, and women from the webslinger’s life.

Ms. Pascal also talked to Sam Raimi, who directed the studio’s first three “Spider-Man” movies, about returning to the franchise, possibly to direct again or as a producer.

-WSJ

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

I'm going to go to Sony Pictures headquarters and just hand every employee a note that says "Just ask for distribution rights for a Pixar Spider-Man film"

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

Well it at least sounds better than their other awful ideas for spiderman films.

[DSR]

Dec 9, 2014 23:07:30 GMT -5 Citizen Snips Has Left said:

I'm going to go to Sony Pictures headquarters and just hand every employee a note that says "Just ask for distribution rights for a Pixar Spider-Man film"

How about a note that reads "Make one good movie without cramming three movies' worth of plot into it."

[Deleted]

Just sell the rights Sony. You're just gonna keep f***ing it up and, as proven by Guardians of The Galaxy, Marvel isn't hurting without some of their big characters. Make your money, and give them the rights.

[Goldenbane]

Dec 10, 2014 0:27:20 GMT -5 Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster said:

Well it at least sounds better than their other awful ideas for spiderman films.

Whoa, hey now, stifle that talk! I can't believe you weren't excited for the Aunt May movie Sony talked about. There was going to be an epic scene were Aunt May vacuums the house, AND we learn the origins of Peter Parker's obsession for Wheat cakes! There was also going to be a scene where Aunt May goes to Aunt Anna's house AND a scene where Aunt May helps Uncle Ben find his lost shoe! It was going to be an action packed thrill ride filled with adventure and wonder...and now...it's probably not going to come to fruition.

[Mozenrath]

Is this going to turn out to be made up like the Aunt May thing was, to the best of my knowledge?

[andrew8798]

Latino-Review have weighed in on those leaked details about Spider-Man which found their way online late last night as a result of the "Sony Hack" (something which is proving to be tremendous fun for us movie bloggers). Before we get to the good stuff, let's talk about the spinoffs. Apparently, the big plans that Marvel and DC have led to a "crisis of conifidence" over plans for Spider-Man, perhaps explaining why we've heard nothing about Sinister Six and Venom for quite some time. That female-led spinoff would have apparently focused on some previously unseen characters - because apparently Sony don't realise how much we'd all like to see Black Cat, Spider-Girl, etc. on the big screen - and the Aunt May movie is still (sadly) a very real possibility.

Now, the Marvel Studios deal. According to Sony sources, Sony Pictures didn't actually reject a trilogy of movies that Marvel would produce but not have creative control over (somthing which didn't mae much sense when Sony are the ones who have run the character into the ground). Instead, it was a co-production deal which would have seen Marvel and Sony splitting costs 60/40, with Kevin Feige and company in control of the character and setting him up for appearances in the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like that rumoured Captain America: Civil War role.

Here's where it gets really interesting though. Sony bosses in Japan are obviously furious about how this hacking scandal has played out, and aren't happy about the way Spider-Man has been handled regardless. They feel that they need to start producing more profitable "quality" films, and as a result, "Sony Japan thinks the Marvel deal for Spider-Man is still on the table and they want to renegotiate as a return to quality, the 60/40 split is can be negotiated and Sony Entertainment’s October hard-line stance of wanting creative control is now mostly moot in the eyes of the higher-ups." This obviously means that we may still see Spider-Man join the MCU! Does anyone else have a horrible feeling that Sony will end up giving a bunch of terrible sounding spinoffs the green light instead though?

-CBM

[Lazy peon]

Dec 10, 2014 0:46:49 GMT -5 DSR said:

Dec 9, 2014 23:07:30 GMT -5 Citizen Snips Has Left said:

I'm going to go to Sony Pictures headquarters and just hand every employee a note that says "Just ask for distribution rights for a Pixar Spider-Man film"

How about a note that reads "Make one good movie without cramming three movies' worth of plot into it."

Reverse Hobbit.

[Evilution E5150]

This Sony hack is the gift that keeps on giving, between this and the Adam Sandler stuff its been great

[Crimson]

Honestly, I feel bad for Andrew Garfield in all of this. You got Sam Raimi fanboys and now the MCU fanboys bashing him for how the Amazing Reboot turned out even though he was a much better Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire.

[xCompackx]

Why is this so hard for Sony? They got it so right with Spider-Man 1 and 2 (even though I found them to be a tad too dramatic at times, but otherwise good stuff) and then corporate meddling led to everything turning to shit from 3 onwards. I really don't get it. Spider-Man isn't a hard superhero to translate into a film and as long as you trust the director that you hired and paid to make a good movie, it'll be a good movie.

[Brother Nero....Wolfe]

Dec 10, 2014 23:01:39 GMT -5 Crimson said:

Honestly, I feel bad for Andrew Garfield in all of this. You got Sam Raimi fanboys and now the MCU fanboys bashing him for how the Amazing Reboot turned out even though he was a much better Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire.

I think he was a much better Spider-Man, but a bit of a worse Peter Parker. Maguire's Parker was a lot more awkward, at least. Could be just me, but it always seemed right to me that he should be a bit awkward and shy as Parker and just let it all out as Spider-Man, the witty asshole.

[AFN: Judge Shred]

Dec 10, 2014 23:23:00 GMT -5 Brother Nero....Wolfe said:

Dec 10, 2014 23:01:39 GMT -5 Crimson said:

Honestly, I feel bad for Andrew Garfield in all of this. You got Sam Raimi fanboys and now the MCU fanboys bashing him for how the Amazing Reboot turned out even though he was a much better Spider-Man than Tobey Maguire.

I think he was a much better Spider-Man, but a bit of a worse Peter Parker. Maguire's Parker was a lot more awkward, at least. Could be just me, but it always seemed right to me that he should be a bit awkward and shy as Parker and just let it all out as Spider-Man, the witty asshole.

Have you read the 60's comics? Parker was never really shy, he was a smart mouthed little bastard.

Dec 10, 2014 22:49:28 GMT -5 Evilution E5150 said:

This Sony hack is the gift that keeps on giving, between this and the Adam Sandler stuff its been great

And what Adam Sandler stuff might that be?

[Brother Nero....Wolfe]

Dec 11, 2014 0:29:36 GMT -5 AFN: Judge Shred said:

Dec 10, 2014 23:23:00 GMT -5 Brother Nero....Wolfe said:

I think he was a much better Spider-Man, but a bit of a worse Peter Parker. Maguire's Parker was a lot more awkward, at least. Could be just me, but it always seemed right to me that he should be a bit awkward and shy as Parker and just let it all out as Spider-Man, the witty asshole.

Have you read the 60's comics? Parker was never really shy, he was a smart mouthed little bastard.

Dec 10, 2014 22:49:28 GMT -5 Evilution E5150 said:

This Sony hack is the gift that keeps on giving, between this and the Adam Sandler stuff its been great

And what Adam Sandler stuff might that be?

Didn't read it, no. I'm going from the Parker I read as a kid, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's completely different from the original character in a thousand ways, so if that's the version they are going for, more power to them, I just personally wasn't a fan.

[Evilution E5150]

Dec 11, 2014 0:29:36 GMT -5 AFN: Judge Shred said:

Dec 10, 2014 23:23:00 GMT -5 Brother Nero....Wolfe said:

I think he was a much better Spider-Man, but a bit of a worse Peter Parker. Maguire's Parker was a lot more awkward, at least. Could be just me, but it always seemed right to me that he should be a bit awkward and shy as Parker and just let it all out as Spider-Man, the witty asshole.

Have you read the 60's comics? Parker was never really shy, he was a smart mouthed little bastard.

Dec 10, 2014 22:49:28 GMT -5 Evilution E5150 said:

This Sony hack is the gift that keeps on giving, between this and the Adam Sandler stuff its been great

And what Adam Sandler stuff might that be?

gawker.com/sony-hack-reveals-25-page-list-of-reasons-it-sucks-to-w-1666264634 and follow the link at the bottom for their god awful power point presentations

[Bub (BLM)]

Dec 10, 2014 23:11:56 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Why is this so hard for Sony? They got it so right with Spider-Man 1 and 2 (even though I found them to be a tad too dramatic at times, but otherwise good stuff) and then corporate meddling led to everything turning to shit from 3 onwards. I really don't get it. Spider-Man isn't a hard superhero to translate into a film and as long as you trust the director that you hired and paid to make a good movie, it'll be a good movie.

There's one common thread in the poor reactions to Spider-Man 3 and the failure of the Amazing Spider-Man series, and Sony is too dumb to realize it and cut him loose. They have to get rid of Avi Arad. He's a hack to the very core, and his meddling is a huge reason the series keeps getting off course.

[Wolfman Rose]

Dec 11, 2014 1:04:21 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

Dec 10, 2014 23:11:56 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Why is this so hard for Sony? They got it so right with Spider-Man 1 and 2 (even though I found them to be a tad too dramatic at times, but otherwise good stuff) and then corporate meddling led to everything turning to shit from 3 onwards. I really don't get it. Spider-Man isn't a hard superhero to translate into a film and as long as you trust the director that you hired and paid to make a good movie, it'll be a good movie.

There's one common thread in the poor reactions to Spider-Man 3 and the failure of the Amazing Spider-Man series, and Sony is too dumb to realize it and cut him loose. They have to get rid of Avi Arad. He's a hack to the very core, and his meddling is a huge reason the series keeps getting off course.

Just for the record, Arad is the reason the crossover hasn't happened yet. He believes any Spider-Man/MCU crossover should have Spidey as the centrepiece/main star.

[xCompackx]

Dec 11, 2014 1:04:18 GMT -5 Evilution E5150 said:

Dec 11, 2014 0:29:36 GMT -5 AFN: Judge Shred said:

Have you read the 60's comics? Parker was never really shy, he was a smart mouthed little bastard.


And what Adam Sandler stuff might that be?

gawker.com/sony-hack-reveals-25-page-list-of-reasons-it-sucks-to-w-1666264634 and follow the link at the bottom for their god awful power point presentations

Don't Adam Sandler films usually do pretty well in the box office? If I recall, Grown Ups 2 beat Pacific Rim for the #1 spot when they were released. Just seems like whoever made those power points had an agenda rather than trying to actually present facts.

[Hawk Hart]

Dec 11, 2014 9:27:27 GMT -5 xCompackx said:

Dec 11, 2014 1:04:18 GMT -5 Evilution E5150 said:

gawker.com/sony-hack-reveals-25-page-list-of-reasons-it-sucks-to-w-1666264634 and follow the link at the bottom for their god awful power point presentations

Don't Adam Sandler films usually do pretty well in the box office? If I recall, Grown Ups 2 beat Pacific Rim for the #1 spot when they were released. Just seems like whoever made those power points had an agenda rather than trying to actually present facts.

Actually, there was essentially a metric shitton on leaked Sony employee complaints that they keep churning out Adam Sandler movies which benefit Happy Madison more than they benefit Sony.