Sam Raimi on Returning to Spider-Man

News

Sam Raimi on Returning to Spider-Man

Source:Scott Huver

May 20, 2009

Even after escaping some critical wounds as a result of Spider-Man 3 by returning to his horror-comedy roots, director Sam Raimi didn't have to be dragged back to Spidey's friendly neighborhood for a fourth outing.

Raimi, who's wowing audiences with his bravura cinematic scares in the lean, mean and much lower-budgeted Drag Me to Hell, says it didn't take any convincing or arm-twisting to get him to sign on to helm a fourth "Spider-Man" outing (especially as long as Tobey Maquire was along for the ride).

Although the storyline is still top-secret--and still being written--Raimi tells ComingSoon.net/SuperheroHype.com about returning to the wall-crawler's world, taking criticism to heart, the lessons learned from returning to semi-guerilla filmmaking, and how with great "Spider-Man" films comes great responsibility.

CS/SHH!: Was making a fourth "Spider-Man" film an easy call for you to make? And were you and Tobey Maguire in lockstep on the decision, both eager to do it together?
Sam Raimi: I only wanted to do it with Tobey because my interest is in living the character with Tobey in a deeper way than we ever have lived it before. There comes with the familiarity a knowledge of a lot of the basics. I think it's really going to allow us to delve deeply into him as a human being, which is really why I'm into it this time.

CS/SHH!: "Spider-Man 3" received its share of criticism even though it was successful at the box office. Are you taking that into consideration when you're developing the fourth film?
Raimi: Do I take the criticism into consideration? Yeah, absolutely. All filmmakers want their films to be liked. I shouldn't say that, but I definitely want my films to be liked by the audience. I don't make an artistic type of picture that I can say to myself "Even if this crowd doesn't like it, it stands as a work of art and will be appreciated years later or has meaning without the audience." I simply am an entertainer and I make films for audience appreciation. When they don't like it, I don't have a leg to stand on. If a critic doesn't like it, it's like "Oh, he hates me," or it's bad, they don't like it. Every time I get a bad criticism, I just try not to dwell on it but it's very upsetting. You really want to please people.

CS/SHH!: What did you particularly take to heart? Like would you go back to a single villain?
Raimi: I'm still working on "Spider-Man 4." More properly, the writer is writing the screenplay right now. David Lindsay-Abaire, a New York playwright, is in New York supposedly writing. We'll see - I gotta call that guy! He should be done with his script in about four weeks, I think. I think I'd be better prepared to answer that question once I've read that script and know what the movie is. I wanted to work in a new way and a new direction. I had just read this great play that David Lyndsay-Abaire had written called "Rabbit Hole" and I just really wanted to work with him on Peter Parker.

CS/SHH!: Was there a significant difference between working on a major franchise and doing a smaller production like "Drag Me to Hell"?
Raimi: With those "Spider-Man" pictures, which I love making, there's still a lot of responsibility on the director's shoulders--and the producers, everyone's shoulders--because you're dealing with a character that has been around for fortysome years, is much loved by people throughout the world and people not just have a sense of ownership of Spider-Man--rightfully so--they look up to him as a hero. Generations of people do, so you have to be careful with how that portrayal takes place. You have to have a lot of respect for the ownership of everyone, which they do have over that character. And so I was using the word "responsibility" of the responsibility to present him in a proper light. And that's a great job, but it's much more freeing to take a break from that and work with your own characters in a place where no one has any expectation of them because they don't know them. You're really free to do anything you want. So there's a lot more freedoms that come with the independent picture "Drag Me to Hell."

CS/SHH!: Has rediscovering those freedoms got you excited to return to the world of Spider-Man?
Raimi: I'm really looking forward to it. I feel like I've been on vacation and I want to come back. And I feel like I've learned a lot, working with the time constraints without all the toys and tools I've been granted on the "Spider-Man" pictures. I had a lot less to work with. I remember often times in this process my assistant director Michael Moore would come up to me and say things like, "Sam you've got an hour left and you've got eight shots. What do you want to do?" And I would think. "Oh my god, we'll just shoot it tomorrow." And he would say "You're not coming here tomorrow - you're never coming back here, the budget won't let you come back here. You now have 55 minutes. How are you going to get the shot?" First I'd panic, and then I would remember the basics are all I ever needed and I would think, "Well, what's the point of this scene, what's the core of what I'm after?" It's that this character in the story is confronted with this situation, she makes this realization, and that's where the scene ends. And I can get that with a close up of my actress and a little bit of a lighting effect. Maybe she was going to come outside and see the sun coming down and I was going to have a crane shot and she was going to realize she didn't have much time. With a simple rose-colored gel and a lamp that's being faded up and her coming into a close-up, she can look off into the direction of the light, suggest she's seeing the sunset, a little bit of wind with help with the idea of the setting sun and she'll make a realization in her eyes. At that moment the camera will move in a little bit to underline this realization, a bit of fear will come upon her as she realizes she doesn't have much time as the light is dimming, and she exits frame. With that shot I remembered I can get everything I needed that I thought I needed eight shots to get. And it was invigorating. It never should have been those eight shots anyway.

Spider-Man 4 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 6, 2011, while Drag Me to Hell opens next week, on Friday, May 29th.

181 comments

Add a comment

Related Articles From Other Sites

Comments

Posted by: abe on May 20, 2009 at 01:06:36

It should be interesting to see how this all pans out.

Posted by: hmm on May 20, 2009 at 01:07:04

Try re-doing Spider-man 3.

Posted by: JayJay on May 20, 2009 at 01:14:58

I'm not excited. :(

Posted by: Walter Kovacs on May 20, 2009 at 01:15:04

YES!

Posted by: The Dude on May 20, 2009 at 01:15:32

Looking forward to Drag Me to Hell!

The Lizard = Main villian for Spidey 4.

Posted by: Yawn_Fiesta on May 20, 2009 at 01:16:15

Try ditching Kirsten Dunst, thanks

Posted by: Pecos Bill on May 20, 2009 at 01:17:27

I'm all for giving Raimi another shot, I mean, he made two extremely good Spider-Man films (although I agree the second was easily better than the first one) and had *one* bad one.

I don't understand why everyone is so ready to throw him to the lions after Spider-Man 3, he has definitely earned the right to at least do one more. Hey, if Spider-Man 4 stinks, then yeah, maybe it's time for a new director, but let's just wait and see, eh?

Posted by: Paul PBFstudios on May 20, 2009 at 01:19:19

Maybe not re-do Spider-man 3 but improve it...Hell, George Lucas has been "re-doing" Star Wars since the creation of movies

Posted by: the badguy on May 20, 2009 at 01:21:13

get at it sam. now that his heart is back into it. its gonna rock!

Posted by: Paul PBFstudios on May 20, 2009 at 01:21:45

quote by Yawn_Fiesta
Try ditching Kirsten Dunst, thanks
agreed...That was a bad casting choice to begin with...they should have nabbed Jessica Biel when they had the chance IMO.

Posted by: hasbeen on May 20, 2009 at 01:24:40

They are ready to throw in the towel because they masturbate to Venom. I like the character of VENOM as well but to me SPIDERMAN is ten times more important to worry about than one villain. Peters development far outweighs any demonic like villain.

Posted by: Looking for REALISM! on May 20, 2009 at 01:29:43

William Dafoe was the only good thing about SM1. Alfred Molina was the only good thing about SM2. SM3 just plain sucked. Fire the entire cast and the director and SM4 might be OK.

Posted by: UltimateJustin on May 20, 2009 at 01:32:17

With ANY luck, Spider-Man 4 will feature a scene to rival or outdo the birth of Sandman sequence from 3, specifically a badass scene of a non-Curt Connors Lizard emerging from an egg.

Posted by: Go Raimi on May 20, 2009 at 01:33:45

I agree with Pecos Bill why does everyone hate on Raimi. I think that he is going to pull through on this one and make the best spiderman movie that we have seen so far.

Posted by: Phantomus on May 20, 2009 at 01:38:58

Damn, it sounds like he learned a lot since being away. Hopefully this time around he'll be able to put his foot down when the studio is pressuring him to do something that doesn't fit the story. (i.e. VENOM in #3)

I'm sorry, I love Venom, but they just totally killed it by squeezing him into that movie.

Would've been better if they could've dedicated all of Spidey 4 to Venom.

GOOD LUCK SAM!

Posted by: Joe the whole show on May 20, 2009 at 01:40:16

Honestly you can tell Venom was forced into the third film and the other two was well done. With that said let's see what Sam can do with this one.

Posted by: GreenNinjaN on May 20, 2009 at 01:43:04

The first movie was great, the second one deviated a little bit but three was utter crap. Sam's a good director he just needs better writers. The Lizard would be the obvious villain choice since Doc Conners is already an established character but I'd like to see some one else like Rhino or the Vulture or maybe even Shocker or Mysterio. It would be kind of cool if they made Bruce Campbell's character into Mysterio the struggling actor who tries to take his game to next level by trying to best Spidey. They should wait on Carnage or at least do Venom some justice first. The one thing I think Raimi is doing wrong is that he's killing off his villains. Maybe he should just redo Spidey 3.

Posted by: If we all pull our ideas together....!!! on May 20, 2009 at 02:00:23

People here are hilarious. Why would Sony pay a couple hundred million dollars to remake a movie that only came out 2 years ago (roughly 5 by the time 4 hits)? To Ultimate Justin, why would the Lizard hatch from an egg? He isn't a real lizard, man. I laughed loudly at that one, it brought joy to me. I'm looking forward to another Spider-man. You guys are great.

Posted by: ico on May 20, 2009 at 02:07:09

I completely trust him to make a good movie and blame the studio on Spiderman 3 by forcing Venom into it.

Posted by: Brand-O on May 20, 2009 at 02:12:45

osted by: Pecos Bill on May 20, 2009 at 01:17:27

I'm all for giving Raimi another shot, I mean, he made two extremely good Spider-Man films (although I agree the second was easily better than the first one) and had *one* bad one.

I don't understand why everyone is so ready to throw him to the lions after Spider-Man 3, he has definitely earned the right to at least do one more. Hey, if Spider-Man 4 stinks, then yeah, maybe it's time for a new director, but let's just wait and see, eh?

-to answer that, Pecos Bill, there's a lot of suckas out there who hop on that "Sam Raimi sucks" bandwagon and can't think for themselves. The man makes a slew of good movies then is condemned for one trip-up, which, considering Avi Arad FORCED Sam to shoe-horn in Venom, wasn't even his fault anyway. It's pretty sad. I have faith in Sam Raimi. He'll bring this franchise back.

Posted by: Mills on May 20, 2009 at 02:24:21

Brand-O and rubsk1, you are the ones who need to check your facts. Venom being forced into Spider-Man 3 was the least of its problems. Im getting sick of saying this, but alot of people are morons when it comes to why Spider-Man 3 was bad. 99% of why that movie sucked was Raimi's ideas and therefor his fault. Here's some examples: Goblin 2 being a snowboarder, Sandman being a "main villian", Sandman's origin, Sandman being set free cuz of his sob story at the end, Peter dancing around like a flamer, Harry getting amnesia, Mary Jane getting captured for the 3rd time in a row, Mary Jane plain being unlikeable, Sandman shooting Uncle Ben - ruined first movie and point, Peter crying every 5 minutes, Harry's butler saying his father was killed by his own glider, etc.

THESE WERE ALL RAIMI'S IDEAS!! So STFU to anybody who says Spider-Man 3 sucked cuz Venom was squeezed in. Venom sucked in the film, but there was 10 million other faults that were all Raimi's doing. The problem was he had his inexperienced untalented brother write the script, cuz the guy got too much control. THAT is why Spider-Man 3 sucked.

Posted by: J-birchman on May 20, 2009 at 02:25:09

I agree with the most of you that Raimi is the person for the fourth installment. As many of you have already said it was the producers pressure that forced Venom in the 3rd film. And if could have been a perfect movie if they kept the Eddie Brock and symbiote arc they had in the script and even had Harry and Petey team up to take out Sandman. The closing scene of the movie however, should've been the church scene where eddie acquires the sybiote costume. If it would have been edited and written that way I gaurantee all of us wouldn't be able to wait for this next instalment.

Posted by: Jaguar on May 20, 2009 at 02:29:24

Raimi has done years of great works... the evil dead trilogy by far surpasses the spider-man trilogy... but only it's lovability.

I just hope he keeps the bright and up-beat tempos from the first 2. And yes, cast a new MJ... A more introspective Petey would be nice, a character as intelligent as he's supposed to be. I might not be there opening night, but i will see it in theaters, since i've seen all of them in theaters...

Posted by: J-birchman on May 20, 2009 at 02:34:38

To mills get you facts straight: A) Goblinn 2 was a skyboarder there was no snow in any of the scenes in spidey 3, B)Sandman and his origin wasn't too far off (aside from the killing uncle ben crap) C)Peter is a nerd and dancing like a flamer seems totally appropriate for especially since this is the same peter that was reading poetry to win MJ in the second movie D) how many times has MJ been captured or in Danger in the comics?????E) the butler thing.....good point other than that none of those things you said bothered me at all.

Posted by: Carl XVI Gustaf on May 20, 2009 at 02:36:22

Larry David as the Vulture. Charisma Carpenter as Black Cat.

« Previous Page

Page 1 of 8

Total: 181 comments

Jump to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Add a Comment

Latest Headlines:

James McTeigue on Making a DC Superhero Movie
Natalie Portman on Why She Did Thor
New Kull Movie in the Works
Smallville Promo Shows Justice Society Members
New Moon Breaks Dark Knight's Single Day Record
New Moon Beats Harry Potter and Batman
International Featurette on Sherlock Holmes
Bay Not Killing Off Fox in Transformers 3
Peter Iliff to Write American Gladiators
Idris Elba to Play Heimdall in Thor
Chuck Taking Over Heroes' Timeslot
Iron Man 2 Trailer with Sherlock Holmes?
Iron Man 2 Minimates and Marvel Select Figures
Quesada & Bendis Tweet About Thor Production!
Update: Hathaway Also Up for Spider-Man 4?
Sam Worthington to Star in American Crime
Mandalay Picks Up Unthinkable
Warren Ellis' Global Frequency Coming to The CW
Aurora, Platinum Team on Nightfall Movie
Smallville TV Movie Has a Title

Latest Headlines

Most Active

James McTeigue on Making a DC Superhero Movie
12 new posts | 31 total posts

Natalie Portman on Why She Did Thor
8 new posts | 38 total posts

Smallville Promo Shows Justice Society Members
7 new posts | 79 total posts

New Moon Breaks Dark Knight's Single Day Record
7 new posts | 83 total posts

Idris Elba to Play Heimdall in Thor
5 new posts | 153 total posts

Bay Not Killing Off Fox in Transformers 3
3 new posts | 88 total posts

Thor's The Warriors Three Cast!
2 new posts | 127 total posts

Julia Stiles Also Auditions for Spider-Man 4
2 new posts | 108 total posts

Heroes: Claire & Gretchen's First Kiss!
1 new posts | 113 total posts

Exclusive Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray/DVD Clip
1 new posts | 28 total posts

New Moon Beats Harry Potter and Batman
1 new posts | 196 total posts

Lawrence and St. John to Adapt Sgt. Rock
1 new posts | 36 total posts

SuperHeroHype

Related Articles

Related Articles From Other Sites