As we reported a few days ago, Sam Raimi's highly anticipated Spider-Man 4 is rumored to have hit a sizable snag in the scripting process, which has delayed production and resulted in the flick being bumped from its intended release date of May 6, 2011. Today, star Tobey Maguire did his best to spread a little bit of sunshine on the seemingly gloomy situation. Speaking with the LA Times' The Envelope [via THR's Heat Vision Blog] Maguire claims to be unfazed by the whole kafuffle, saying:
"Like anything, it's a process. We're just in the midst of the process. We have a lot of great stuff in terms of story and script. We're just trying to dial it in and get it ready as quickly as possible. Of course, these movies are a very big undertaking and take a lot more time than a drama or something more straightforward."
Hit the jump for additional info, more from Maguire, and my thoughts on this tangled web.
Though nothing has been confirmed at this point, there have been indications that production could potentially be delayed for months to ensure that all of the bugs are ironed out of the script, meaning that the 4th entry in the popular franchise, in addition to losing its prime tentpole position, could struggle to even make it onto the 2011 summer docket, though Maguire claims they still plan to release in 2011. However, even if the delays end up being no more than a few weeks, Spider-Man has already been dealt a significant blow, as fellow event flicks Thor and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides have both taken advantage of the wall-crawler's troubles to move past him on the release date ladder.
Box office implications aside, I'm inclined to view this as a positive sign. The filmmakers are obviously devoted to a return to the form they demonstrated with the first two entries in the series; that can't be accomplished by moving forward with a sub-par script...when you move forward with a sub-par script, you get Peter Parker swing dancing in a nightclub and whispering "Now dig on this." If Raimi and co. need a few extra months...hell, a few extra years...to make sure nothing like that ends up in this film, I say Godspeed.
Lastly, Maguire had this to say on the future of the Spider-Man:
"Not only do I have specific ideas, but the ideas are evolving on the page," he said. "It's all happening right now. It's all sort of coming together. It's very exciting to me. I think the evolution of the character is really exciting, to be rooted in the history of what we've done already and to have a continuity, yet have a progression or evolution."
