Tobey Maguire has a horse, and his name ain’t “Seabiscuit”- content on working with only a small circle of filmmakers since the original “Spider-Man,” Maguire and Sony are turning to Oscar nominated screenwriter Gary Ross to re-write “Spider-Man 4.” This is the third time Ross and Maguire are working together- Ross previously directed Maguire in “Pleasantville” and “Seabiscuit,” but the two have long been associated with an Ed Solomon adaptation of the cult pulp novel “Tokyo Suckerpunch,” which recently experienced another delay due to the departure of Maguire co-star Anne Hathaway.
Since Maguire broke into the big-time with “Spider-Man,” he’s only starred in Ross’ “Seabiscuit” and featured briefly in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Good German” in between spells as Peter Parker. His starring role in Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers” should garner him attention, but he’s only attached himself to the small black comedy “The Details” to shoot before donning the tights again for Sam Raimi and co. Is Maguire ok with typecasting himself into a corner? He’s linked himself to a couple of interesting projects, including “Suckerpunch” and an intriguing script called “The Quiet Guy” from Richard LaGravenese, where Maguire was to remain mute for the entirety of the film, but nothing much has come to fruition for him. At the end of this, “Spider-Man 4” will be released in 2011, when Maguire will be 36 years of age. Does he have many more years left as a bankable guy before those youthful looks become something far more ungainly? If it was any other leading man, we would say they will age well into his 40’s, but Maguire, always an odd-looking sort, has reportedly gained and lost weight at rapid, sloppy paces for the Spidey films, mileage that may start to show in very nasty ways.
Variety claims the Ross association is due to Ross’ involvement with Sony’s in-development Lance Armstrong picture, which Ross will likely make his next effort as a director after rewriting “Spider-Man 4.” Ross is re-writing a script that has already been penned by James Vanderbilt and redone by David Lindsay-Abaire. While Vanderbilt has “Zodiac” on his resume, he’s also one of the many writers who did penance on “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” while Pulitzer-Prize winner Lindsay-Abaire previously toiled away on “Inkheart.” “Spider-Man 4” starts shooting in January for an undetermined summer ’11 release date that will no doubt eventually be programmed into your brain whether you like it or not.
