Any producer or veteran in Hollywood will tell you: screenplays written by committee (or go through the hands of several, too many, people) never end well.
This is evidently the problem with “Spider-Man 4.” The film has gone through several drafts, James Vanderbilt (of “Zodiac” fame) wrote an early draft. Then David Lindsay-Abaire (“Rabbit Hole”) rewrote that draft and then Gary Ross (“Pleasantville”) wrote another draft. In fact, keeping up with all the writers, it’s been easy to forget or keep straight who did what when, but that’s essentially the order.
A lot of times that will lead to a screenplay in complete confusion going in several different directions. Apparently something like that has happened and Sony is not happy with the current script and is potentially delaying the film according to Nikki Finke (and apparently this corroborates a IESB report, but generally we consider them an iffy source).
Finke has apparently gotten a hold of an email from the VFX team that went out on December 11 and has published it on her site (though she’s been working on the story ever since, congrats Nikki! In all seriousness though it seems like a bombshell of a piece). It reads:
We were just notified that our schedule is pushing. We will NOT be starting as planned. I’m terribly sorry for this news, and I hope this email reaches you in time to find other options. We do not know how long we are pushing, and we will not know until mid-January. By mid-January, we will be told how long the push is, whether it be 2 weeks, 2 months, or something else. The studio has every intention of making the movie, but we no longer have a confirmed start date.
Again, I’m terribly sorry, but Sam Raimi has story issues [that] need to be resolved before we are ready to shoot.
Finke says sources tell her that director Sam Raimi “hates” the current script and apparently Sony and the production are now waiting on a 4th script from Alvin Sargent, who wrote ‘Spidey 2 & 3’ and is evidently married to Spidey franchise producer Laura Ziskind according to Deadline Hollywood.
A Sony insider apparently told Finke today, “It is unlikely that May 11, 2011, date will be made. It depends on how quickly the script can get in.” Agents are evidently already telling their actors that the film will be pushed.
This sounds kind of disastrous really. “Spider-Man 4” was supposed to shoot in February, then it got delayed til, March, then April. The pushes keep coming.
Another email to Finke from said Sony insider reads:
“Some decisions have been made over the holiday about Spider-Man 4. We will be extending the production hiatus on the film. The studio is firmly committed to this franchise but, for us, the script must come first. We intend to notify members of the crew immediately. As you know, Alvin Sargent is currently working on the screenplay. When we have more news, we will keep you posted.”
Finke seems to confirm that John Malkovich is set to appear in the film, but that Anne Hathaway (who was rumored, but apparently was close to being locked in) won’t (she writes, “Raimi is insisting that John Malkovich play the villain,” which puts those reports as Malkovich playing Vulture as correct). Hathway was rumored to either play Felicia Hardy or a character named Vulturess that was the same person (shit was pretty convoluted).
We poked fun at Finke earlier, but really, this reads like one of her best reports yet and is chalk full of information that you just don’t make up. BTW, Variety has essentially confirmed this report, which is not a surprise given how detailed it is.