“It’s all up for grabs, right now, We’re just trying to figure it out,” Alex Kurtzman told Collider recently about what Sony’s plans were for “Sinister Six” and “The Amazing Spider-Man 3.” And things hadn’t been looking good for the franchise in general, with writer/producer Roberto Orci exiting the series, and rumors that the third movie originally planned for 2016 would be pushed back. Well, it has and considerably so, in what looks like a shakeup for Sony‘s comic book series.
The studio has announced that Drew Goddard‘s “Sinister Six” will land on November 11, 2016 with “The Amazing Spider-Man 3” to follow sometime in 2018. So, in short, Sony is still sticking to their bi-annual release of movies from the Spidey-verse, but they’ve held back on the next entry featuring the hero himself for another four years. Why? It’s likely quite simple — they need to retool (as we discussed at length here). Box office wise, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” was a major disappointment, and even with strong international numbers, it was the worst performing in the series. They need to make this franchise and hero exciting again, and that break will allow them to do just that while also getting the story right. Also? The studio quietly dropped their release date for “The Amazing Spider-Man 4” that was originally slotted for May 4, 2018.
So what happens with the planned “Venom” movie then? Again, Kurtzman (who will direct) says it’s still being figured out. “Everything is still on the table, right now,” he told Collider. “Because it’s a universe outside of the Spider-Man universe, even though it’s connected to it, those movies have to stand on their own. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes.” Indeed everyone will be watching the next moves Sony makes.
In related news, the studio has dated the long developing videogame adaptation, and former David O. Russell project, “Uncharted,” for June 10, 2016 — the previous date for “The Amazing Spider-Man 3.”
