The wheels are moving quickly on Sony’s sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man, but director Marc Webb’s reboot only just hit Blu-ray earlier this week.  The disc includes a rather extensive making-of documentary, and a few pieces from that feature have now been released online.  First up is a look at the screen test between stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.  Their chemistry was the best thing about the whole film, and they shine in the bits of footage we see here.  The screen test is interspersed with footage of Webb, Garfield, and Stone talking about the inspired pairing.

Additionally, another video features Webb and visual effects supervisor Jerome Chen talking about the various Easter Eggs that they’ve hidden throughout the film.  Hit the jump for more.

Last week when I sat down with The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb for an exclusive video interview to promote today’s Blu-ray/DVD release, something very cool happened: Stan Lee interrupted the interview.  While Stan came in just to say hi, I decided to use the opportunity to have him pitch Marc Webb on his next Spider-Man cameo since he’s now signed on to direct the sequel.  As you might imagine, Stan had a lot of ideas on how his next character could be a major part of the sequel.  Hit the jump to watch.

With Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man set to release on DVD/Blu-ray next week (it’s currently available on VOD), a new Honest Trailer has debuted just in time.  The trailer takes shots at Webb’s origin story and hilariously points out the film’s shortcomings, all in good fun.  We’ve had a wealth of news on The Amazing Spider-Man sequel as of late, with Jamie Foxx in talks to play the villain Electro, Shailene Woodley’s role as Mary Jane Watson and Steve’s recent interview with Webb, which revealed quite a bit about the upcoming film.

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field and Denis Leary.  Hit the jump to see the new honest trailer.

With The Amazing Spider-Man getting released on Blu-ray/DVD November 9, earlier today I was able to sit down with director Marc Webb for an exclusive video interview.  Webb recently signed on to direct the Spider-Man sequel and news broke this morning that Jamie Foxx is going to play the villain Electro, so the timing of this interview couldn’t have been better.

During our wide ranging conversation we talked about his appreciation for Jamie Foxx, his thoughts on the financial success of the film, why he cut out certain scenes, how Peter Parker’s parents will be a serial element over the course of the trilogy (he said “I need to leave some juice for the second movie”), what kind of deal he made with 20th Century Fox to get to do the Spidey sequel, and more.  In addition, with Webb hard at work on the sequel, he revealed why he wanted Electro as the villain, how Oscorp plays a big role in the Spider-Man universe, how they’re revising the Spider-Man suit, that they’re shooting entirely in New York City, they may use some new techniques for the 3D, but no matter what the sequel will be released in 3D, he is in a “testing phase” with IMAX, and I tried to find out how many villains will be in the film and how large a role Mary Jane Watson plays.  Hit the jump for more.

Things are moving right along on the Amazing Spider-Man sequel.  Just over a month ago we learned that director Marc Webb and stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone were all returning for the follow-up, and we recently got wind that The Descendants star Shailene Woodley had entered talks to take on the role of Mary Jane Watson (making a minor appearance in this sequel).  Within that report we also learned that the film’s villain was rumored to be Electro, and now it appears that Sony has settled on Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx to take on the electrically-inclined antagonist role.

Hit the jump for more.

When Sony’s reboot The Amazing Spider-Man opened this summer, much was made about the fact that the finished film left out plenty of footage that was teased in the trailers.  It wasn’t simply that the theatrical release was missing a few scenes here and there, but it was pretty obvious that a good chunk of the background on Peter Parker’s parents and Parker’s true origin (ie. “The Untold Story”) had been excised in favor of letting that storyline play out over a trilogy of films.

Director Marc Webb, Andrew Garfield, and Emma Stone are all poised to return for the sequel, with Shailene Woodley possibly playing Mary Jane Watson, and now the first film is getting ready to hit Blu-ray and DVD.  The home video release will include a number of deleted scenes, and a few of them have popped up online a bit early, revealing some of Parker’s origin story that was cut.  Hit the jump to take a look.

Things are heating up for the Amazing Spider-Man sequel.  Just a couple of weeks ago we got confirmation that Marc Webb is returning to direct with Andrew Garfield confirmed to reprise his Spidey role and Emma Stone expected to come back as Gwen Stacy.  It was all but assumed that comics love interest Mary Jane Watson would come into play in the follow-up, and now it appears that Webb and co. have settled on the actress to tackle the iconic character: The Descendants star Shailene Woodley.  Hit the jump for much more on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 including possible villains and the appearance of a fan-favorite character.

The Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man was a sizeable hit this summer at the box office, but the film was surrounded by an air of production troubles.  The film was only director Marc Webb’s second feature, and was a huge step up from his swell but small-scale debut (500) Days of Summer.  A fair amount of reshoots took place, and when the film hit theaters we saw that much of the footage from the film’s marketing (including the entire “Untold Story” storyline) had been removed from the finished pic.

Sony hired Transformers and Star Trek scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to rewrite the script for a sequel before the first film came out, but Webb’s involvement in the follow-up was less clear.  Though many assumed another director would be brought in to helm a more commercial (ie. action-centric) sequel, it now looks like Webb is coming back after all with his leads in tow.  Hit the jump for more.

This past week presented me with a couple of unique moviegoing opportunities. In addition to the ParaNorman showing I previewed the last time we met, I was also able to check out one of my all-time favorites, Jaws, on the big screen thanks to Cinemark’s “Fall Classic Series”. For as much as I enjoyed the pic long before this week’s showing, I have to say that viewing it as an audience member in a packed theater for the first time opened my eyes to a whole new appreciation. Not only was I genuinely startled in a few scenes that repeat television and DVD viewings had long left me numb to, but I also came to respect Robert Shaw’s timeless turn as Quint even more than I previously had. In short, my adoration for Spielberg‘s masterpiece was not only reaffirmed, it somehow found a way to expand.

But enough about my love of all things Jaws related. This week’s Top 5 includes the news that James Gunn is in talks to direct Marvel’s intergalactic tale, Guardians of the Galaxy, Sight & Sound’s personal Top 10 lists from some of cinema’s most revered directors (Spoiler Alert: that shark movie I drooled about in the opening paragraph appears on Tarantino‘s), a new red-band trailer for John Hillcoat‘s Lawless, Disney’s plans to reboot The Rocketeer, and an animated look at how The Dark Knight Rises should have ended. A brief recap and link to each can be found after the jump.

Earlier this month, a new “official” best film of all time was announced with the unveiling of the results of Sight & Sound’s most recent poll.  Every ten years, the film magazine polls a number of critics, academics, and professionals and then tallies up the results for an ultimate list.  The magazine also has a poll of directors for a second Top 10 list, and now they’ve unveiled the individual directors’ lists in an effort to occupy all the free time you have today.

After the jump you can peruse personal Top 10 lists from the likes of Edgar Wright, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, Woody Allen, David O’Russell, Sam Mendes, Matthew Vaughn, Francis Ford Coppola, Marc Webb and more.  Hit the jump to take a look.

The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb has a number of options for his next picture.  He might return to direct The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and he’s also got Age of Rage, Just Another Love Story, and Jesus Christ Superstar.  Producers Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger (Ruby Sparks) now tell Thompson on Hollywood that Webb has now attached himself to The Only Living Boy in New York.  Last year, we reported that Logan Lerman was attached to star in the indie drama with Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon set to helm the feature, which is about “a young man (Lerman) learns that his overbearing father is having an affair. The son tries to stop it, only to become involved with the woman as well. With advice from a questionable quirky neighbor, the young man learns about love.”  When The Playlist spoke to Gordon last summer, the project still waiting for financing to come together, and that may still be the case even though Webb is now in the director’s chair.

Hit the jump for more.

Sony wants Marc Webb to direct the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man, and Webb wants to come back to continue the story he started to tell in the first movie.  Yet last we heard, the studio feared that Webb may not be able to return due to “obstacles”.  The problem is Fox Searchlight, who has a claim on Webb—the director still owes the studio that made (500) Days of Summer at least one more film.  Fox gave Webb some time to direct The Amazing Spider-Man, but is understandably unwilling to give him another couple years to make the sequel.  Unfortunately for Webb, Sony needs to find a new director soon to make the announced May 2, 2014 release date for the Amazing Spider-Man sequel.  So if Webb can’t make The Amazing Spider-Man 2 next, he can’t make it at all.  Hit the jump for a possible solution.

The Amazing Spider-Man hasn’t torn up the summer season, but it’s been a moderate hit by grossing $210 million in the past couple of weeks (yes, by today’s standards and budgets, $210 million doesn’t count as a homerun), and there’s enough support for Sony to feel good about making a sequel.  Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have been tapped to write the script, but it’s looking like director Marc Webb might not return.

In an interview with THR, Columbia Pictures President Doug Belgrad says they’d like Webb to return, but there are “obstacles”.  Specifically, Webb owes another movie to 20th Century Fox (which distributed (500) Days of Summer through Fox Searchlight).  Columbia has already scheduled The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for May 2, 2014, so filming will begin sometime next year.  If Fox calls in its option, then Webb is out for the web-slinger’s sequel.  Hit the jump for more.

For the past six days, Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man has held the top spot at the daily box office. It should surprise no one, therefore, that the reboot easily netted the weekend prize as well; earning an estimated $65 million from 4,318 locations. That gives the film a new domestic total of $140 million, a number that’s higher than early projections but lower than past entries in the Spider-Man series. Worldwide, the film has now earned a reported $341 million, which is not too bad for reboot…

Last month, Sony Pictures invited us to attend the press junket The Amazing Spider-Man.  The reboot takes a grittier, more realistic approach to Peter Parker’s journey to becoming your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and sees the wall-crawler struggling to come to grips with the mysterious disappearance of his parents.  For more on the film, click here for all of our previous coverage.

During my interview with director Marc Webb, we spoke about which comic books he studied, how Peter Parker stands apart from other superheroes, talking with James Cameron about the 3D, remaking Spider-Man in a modern context, and more.  Hit the jump to check out the interview, and click on the corresponding links for my interviews with stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, and Martin Sheen.