It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
CAST WORTHINGTON.
As a high schooler, Lex?
Isn’t it obvious they are going to cast Michael Cera or Jesse Eisenberg, at this point?
Ah, Christ, he’s gotta be in high school?
You KNOW they’re gonna get Lautner or that new douchebag from KICK-ASS. WHY is Worthington the only convincingly NOT-DOUCHEY MALE LEAD to emerge in the last five years?
Not to sound like Big Hollywood, but haven’t we had enough floppy-haired, quip-slingin’ irony-laden sub-sub-Apatow pussies like Eisenberg (who I like fine), Justin Long (who’s gotta be 40 by now), Yelchin, Cera, Mintz-Plasse, etc? God, at least Lautner is EARNEST and not all hipper-than-thou. And at least Baruschel is FUNNY.
Ah, I don’t care. Peter Parker is inherently a drip anyway. Only good thing about all this is YOU KNOW they’re gonna cast some PIPING-HOT BAIT as Mary Jane.
Justin Biebierierierier.
Cmon, you know SOMEONE out there is pitching it right now.
“I don’t really give a flying f*** who the next Spider-Man is.”
i have so many problems with this statement.
first off, jus say fuck. who are you serving by adding the ***? are you protecting the virgin eyes of all the ten year olds who frequent the blog?
second. really? you don’t give a fuck who the next spiderman is? you who analyzes the box office potential of projects to a near microscopic level? one of the most financially viable properties of all time reboots just 10 years after being launched. A property that spent 20 years in development hell. And it doesn’t matter who plays the lead?
Now that i say it out loud, i guess it really doesn’t matter who plays the lead.
still, i have to imagine there is some level of curiosity. if not, what the hell do you do what you do for?
I don’t know… Anghus, do YOU really give a shit who stars in the next TYLER PERRY movie?
Those things are a cash cow, and the fact that you frequent movie blogs and post on them suggests that you love movies and the business and follow the prognostication and are interested in it all… But I’d all but guarantee you don’t give a shit if it’s Angela Bassett or Janet Jackson in WHY DID I GET MARRIED THREE BY MADEA or whatever.
Maybe Dave just doesn’t give a shit about Spider-Man; I barely do. I’m not a Poland level box office savant or insider authority, but I sure love movies and all, but I know I don’t give a shit about ANYTHING Pixar. We all have our blind spots. Maybe DP is just sick of Spider-Man.
I mean, it kind of blows.
This has the potential to be a big time flame out and result in the firing of all decision makers at that Studio. The previous three Spidermans accounted for so much of Sony’s income during those years that fucking that is an extremely serious infraction. The reason why the Batman reboot worked so well was because the movies really sucked ass prior to Nolan getting started. There’s still a lot of good will for the Rami stuff, even if the third one was subpar.
lex.
1. maybe he’d care more if val was still there.
2. what does tyler perry have to do with spiderman. one is a major franchise being rebooted after billions in revenue and heat doesn’t even care who plays the lead.
i don’t buy it. broad, baseless statements. i call bullshit.
3. maybe dp is sick of spiderman. but when you write about the movie biz for a living, i would think that one of the biggest franchises in the history of cinema would be something that interests you.
4. you’re right, i could care less who is in the next tyler perry movie, but if i ran a blog about the movie biz i doubt you’d see a post that says “i could give a fuck about who stars in the next tyler perry movie.” because
– it would be disingenuous as a journalist
– it is prohibative to the very nature of reporting.
– its something sad i would expect to hear from a jeff wells type douchebag.
Of COURSE he cares about who is going to play Spiderman. How can you write about the movie industry and NOT be interested. Even if it’s just a little interest. A sliver. A hint. It’s there. To say otherwise is bullshit.
balls heat. pure balls.
Or, anghus, maybe he just meant he does not have a personal vested interest in who the lead is. He cares about the story, just not about who that individual is.
Oddly enough, I’d be more excited about Logan Lerman had I not seen Percy Jackson and the Etc, Etc. I thought he was fantastic in The Butterfly Effect and he’s done well for much of his varied career, shining in various genre pictures (Gamer, The Number 23, 3:10 to Yuma, etc). But Percy Jackson and the Olympians was a stunningly terrible movie and Lerman didn’t do the material any favors. Pure speculation, but I’m sure Lerman’s camp is terrified of any would-be negotiations going public, as it just makes it that much more likely that Fox will enforce the option for a Percy Jackson sequel just to be ‘evil’. Lightning Thief made $218 million worldwide on a $95 million budget so it wouldn’t be completely insane if home-vid does well. Like most nerds, I’m far more interested in who Sony gets to fill out the supporting cast. I still think the whole idea is insane, but if it magically turns out to be a solid adaptation of the early Bendis arcs (and if the Raimi 3 finally get feature-packed Blu Rays), who cares.
Scott, Percy Jackson soured me on Percy Jackson himself, too. I really don’t want Lerman playing Spider-Man, not least because he’s way too much of a cute kid to be playing some social-outcast nerd. I mean, OK, Tobey Maguire is kind of cute in a weird milquetoasty way, but you can believe that he’s a dork; having an all out pretty-boy play Parker is a bit much. The one upside to this whole Raimi/reboot/etc. mess is that it is kind of weird that the first Spider-Man movie left high school, where Parker spends so much time in the early comics as well as the Bendis “ultimate” stuff, like, what, halfway through? And he’s finishing college well into 3? It’s realistic in terms of not having Maguire play a 35-year-old teenager, but the three movies sort of burn through a lot of what is most iconic and interesting about Spider-Man. But I don’t get the sense that Sony is looking to go back and explore interesting stuff they didn’t have time for in the Raimi trilogy (like Gwen Stacy, say, who was one of the more ill-served characters for that underrated-but-still-series-low-point third installment). I’m getting the sense they want to make The CW Presents: Spider-Man on the Cheap!
And I agree, tfresca — this isn’t the same as Batman & Robin doing pretty poor business in 1997, then taking an eight-year break and restarting with a whole new (movies-wise) take on the character. This is a slightly disappointing megahit resulting in a noisy, scrambling reboot in roughly half the time. It could be confusing in the early stages. I know it’s a practical consideration, Sony wanting to hang on to the rights and all, but I hate how “reboot!!!” is the answer to everything now, rather than merely the answer to “what is a supposedly more marketing-friendly synonym for ‘remake’?”
Also, Lex, I know of two actual Sam Worthington fans in the whole world: you, and a female friend of mine who seems to like him mainly because he’s handsome, and because she saw him in some Australian movie(s) before he was big. If you lived on the east coast, I’d set you up on a hilariously mismatched date.
Sam Worthington: all of the dark good looks and brooding intensity of an Eric Bana or a Christian Bale, minus that pesky charisma.
Obviously I can’t speak for David but there was a twitter battle last night over HitFix saying that Percy Jackson kid had all but signed on for the role and then that was refuted by the studio. Maybe he’s commenting on that.
That being said, I thought the EXACT same thing as David….who gives a fuck who the KID is going to be. It’s not going to be a brave choice like Christian Bale was and it won’t be a nobody like Brandon Routh. Also, and I know it’s “wrong” to say it, it’s not going to be a good actor either. This movie isn’t going to be for “our” age bracket, it’s for tweens and teens and pop culture mavens.
OK, am I missing something — which is, of course, entirely possible — or is the whole purpose of a Spider-Man reboot keeping the character a teen-ager? If that’s the case, I have to ask: Why? In the comic book and the even the daily newspaper comic strip, he’s been out of high school — hell, he’s been out of college — for quite some time now, right? Has that hurt the character’s appeal?
Joe, I suspect they want to cast young this time so they’ve got an actor locked in for a few more movies before growing out of the role, like Maguire has.
This was the plan with Routh and Superman, if memory serves. (Man, I wish Superman Returns had been a better movie. I would love a new Superman series.)
Who’s the squack gonna be?
Joe, I think there’s some perception that the inevitably more grown-up nature of Spidey *has* maybe hurt the character’s appeal at least in terms of getting new fans to buy the comics. I haven’t read many Spidey comics at all, but I know a few years ago they did a weird arc in the comics that basically reset a ton of stuff that had happened, like Peter and MJ being married. I don’t know if they made him younger in the process, but they definitely took him back to being single and probably a bit less stable, since MJ provided a home life of sorts. I guess they reached a crossroad where they can either go further and have Peter Parker continue to age and have a family and all that, or they can go back to a situation that seems superficially more dramatic. Maybe that just speaks to the regressive nature of comics readers/creators — or to how they’re perceived, as I’m sure lots of comics fans thought the story move was dopey.
That said, I’m sure part of the purpose for a reboot is to save money. Raimi, Maguire, and Dunst are known quantities and can demand more money. A no-name kid can’t, and you can lock him into some deal where you can try to get a bunch of cheaper movies.
I’d certainly prefer to see another Raimi/Maguire go-round just because I don’t think that team felt creatively exhausted yet (maybe exhausted by Sony, but that’s a different matter, and certainly won’t be solved by Sony hiring their own people to do Budget Spider-Teen). You could do a good movie or two about Parker as a late-twenties/early-thirties guy. But there is a rich vein of younger-Parker stories that they could capitalize on by going younger.
If Sam Worthington can play a 10-ft tall blue cat-alien with a dick-tail in Avatar, he can certainly play a teenager in Spiderman…
Joe, you might remember from previous Marvel movie discussions that there is a line of comics at Marvel called Ultimates, which were meant to be modernized fresh takes on the characters.
This new Spider-Man movie series is supposedly based on the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, where Peter Parker is in high school throughout. It mostly consists of redone versions of the more famous storylines from the 40 years of the main comic series.
Spider-Man’s appeal hasn’t really been hurt much by his aging in the comics, so much as the consistently idiotic storylines that infuriate the fanbase(such as his spider powers being based on native american mysticism, or him secretly being a clone for 25 years, etc). When there’s a good artist and a decent storyline going on Spider-Man comics still sell really well(hell they sell well regardless).
Well, as I say: In the newspaper comic strip, he’s all grown up, still married to MJ — and, right now, they’re vacationing in Florida. But Sabretooth is coming after them.
Personally I’m glad Poland didn’t type out that dirty word. Let’s face it, if he types out “fart,” and we read it, it demeans us all just a little bit.
Nooooo! C’mon Joe, you can’t leave us hanging like that…
Dave, is this the story you’re ranting about?
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-motion-captured/posts/it-s-over-folks-logan-lerman-is-spider-man
If so, why not just say it or link to it? You could have easily done so and made Anghus’ day more pleasant.
Well, here’s today’s installment:
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/comics/spiderman.html
ftr, i’m a long-time fan sam, since ‘dirty deeds’ i think. he’s a honey
yikes, that should be ‘long time SAM FAN’ if i could write proper-like
Firstly, Anghus… what is your “Val” bullshit? You don’t know her or me. You throw that out there like you have some insight when you don’t know shit about shit except that I have a friend who used to run worldwide marketing for Sony.
And if I sound angry, I am… not because you have some insight, but because you are dragging one of my friends, who is now a private person and not a studio exec, who has no bearing on the conversation, into some negative attack. Fuck you, you jackass. You deserve a hand across the head, open or closed. And both I, and more importantly, Val deserves your unreserved apology for the cheap shot.
Man up and apologize.
As for the rest, of course I am interested in what happens with the Spider-Man franchise. But who they choose to play the role will not be the key element. I love Maguire’s work as an actor and he was a very good choice, but it was Sam Raimi who made the franchise fly.
As far as why Sony is doing this… they have to move forward to keep the rights… so they have to move forward. On one hand, you have a 35-year-old playing a still teen Spider-Man, a writing team that was really weak last time out, a director who is really ready to move on, but will stick with it out of loyalty and some self-interest, and an above-the-line budget that (with backend) grows 20% or more with each sequel… now around $100 million and still growing.
On the other, you have a reboot with a cool new tone, new director, new stars, relative story freedom, etc… and leverage enough to have no one be paid much backend and not nearly as much upfront. You can do a $180 million Spider-Man movie again.
You make the call.
I thought they had to move forward the day I saw Spidey 3. But they thought the old team was a safer call. And then, it became a headache and they made the leap. Amy Pascal deserves credit for finally giving up, much as she deserves the blame for hanging on too long.
On AICN they referred to this film as being called “Spider Man Begin Again”.
I wish I had enough faith in H’wood that I could tell that was a joke…but I do not.
Is that the title?
And what stories can they tell? All the most iconic villains are taken. This is the worst idea for a reboot in years. I get “why”…but it reeks of money grab and no artistry whatsoever. It feels like Quest for Peace to me at this point.
“Sam Worthington: all of the dark good looks and brooding intensity of an Eric Bana or a Christian Bale, minus that pesky charisma.”
Christian Bale is Christian Bale minus pesky charisma.
I used to like Sam Worthington a lot – before he got sucked into the Hollywood franchise machine. He was superb in the Aussie films, SOMERSAULT and MACBETH (especially the former, which was also Abbie Cornish’s breakout role) – but the guy is just whoring himself out for a buck now or ingratiating himself with any A list director who needs a greenlightable star. He clearly wants to be in Michael Mann’s next flick, which is why he’s signed on for Mann’s first time director (in features) daughter’s new film. But Sam is so not right for Spider-Man. Besides sporting a dubious American accent, he’s too “manly” to play Peter Parker. Parker is a nerd. Worthington was a brick layer. I promise you Worthington could kick the ass of any Hollywood star right now short of Russell Crowe. Worthington needs to go back to indie films and only consider one Hollywood spectacle every two years or so. He’s a solid actor, but nobody gave him any props for AVATAR – that movie was sold on James Cameron and his FX department. Sam would be great as a street punk or a dirty cop, or an ex-con type — I don’t want to see him play some glossed up Hollywood superhero type.
WORTHINGTON.
I can’t blame Worthington for taking advantage of the opportunities being presented to him. One day you’re in Australian indie flicks and suddenly James Cameron is calling, and before long offers like the new Terminator and a Clash of the Titans remake pour in. Why would Worthington pass those up? Strike while the iron is hot. I think he’s capable of more and hope he does some Somersault-type stuff in the future, but he’d be crazy to not do some blockbusters while he can.
“I thought they had to move forward the day I saw Spidey 3.”
So did I. But this is moving backward; and if anybody at the studio is saying that its being done for anything but the money, a close friend or family member should really stage an intervention in their office right now. It’s Spider-Man, not the Bond franchise or Star Trek. The best of this series is still pretty damn fresh in my memory. I don’t need a reboot faster than microwave popcorn, but somebody’s bank account sure does.
Logan Lerman is kind of a dork who always looks like he has bad eyesight and forgot his glasses. Always on the verge of tears or something. He’s been fine in some things (Yuma), annoying in others–
Did anyone else see that godawful GEORGE HAMILTON BIOPIC starring Renee Zellweger that looks like a TVM and you’re watching it thinking it’s some generic coming of age movie, then in the LAST SHOT, Lerman drops the immortal line, “THAT’S HOW I BECAME GEORGE HAMILTON”? Like, they seriously made a THEATRICAL MOVIE about GEORGE HAMILTON, and they conceal that fact for 112 of the 114 minutes so you don’t even know it. It was called MY ONE AND ONLY and LOGAN LERMAN was an insult to the AWESOMENESS of George Hamilton.
He seems like he’d be more at home playing Sean-D’s little high schooler brother on Days of Our Lives than on a movie screen. Total lightweight who makes Tobey Maguire look like Mickey Rourke x Tom Sizemore in terms of street cred and intensity.
BRINGS ME BACK TO MY ETERNAL QUESTION:
WOULD we have a LOGAN LERMAN if his crazy stage parents hadn’t gotten him into the biz as a kid actor?
We always ask here, HOW COME THERE ARE NO RUGGED OR CREDIBLE AMERICAN LEADING MAN THAT WE HAVE TO CAST SAM WORTHINGTON IN EVERYTHING?
Here’s your answer: A bunch of BEVERLY HILLS YENTA STAGE MOMS get their wimpy, scrawny kids into the biz at age 8, and we’re stuck with them for the next 30 years. If Logan Lerman drove into Hollywood YESTERDAY with no credits and a stack of headshots, he’d be laughed out of town. But because he’s LEGACIED IN from being a KID ACTOR, he’s in the running for Spider-Man.
By and large, Hollywood is a CLOSED TOWN where there’s probably HUNDREDS if not thousands of charismatic 23-year-olds with STAGE EXPERIENCE roaming around sans experience who can’t get in a door, but because LOGAN LERMAN’S MOMMY bought his ticket at age 12, he’s knockin’ ’em dead in meetings.
UTTER BULLSHIT.
Being a kid actor is not the same as being “legacied in.” If he was acting since he was 8, then by the time he’s 18, he would be a 10 year veteran. I think those 10 years of experience is related more to hard work and training than to legacy.
So it was wrong for me to think you’d have more interest in the project if your friend was still head of worldwide marketing at Sony?
no, that sounds about right. don’t think there’s any reason to apologize.
and let’s just can the laughable ‘hand across the head’ stuff. it’s embarrassing. you’re about as likely to throw a punch as i am headline bonaroo.
such a sensitive boy. so personal relationships are fine to bring up as long as youre the one making the inferences.
balls heat. pure balls.
Anghus, you’re so… brazen.
Logan Lerman: Born in Beverly Hills.
S H O C K E R.
I’m sure Lerman’s family’s prosthetics company really gave Logan a huge leg up in film acting.
Shouldn’t that make him the perfect candidate for Doc Ock then?