One of the biggest bits of film news last week involved a major shake-up to the Spider-Man franchise, with the webslinger returning to the Marvel fold, rejoining the Marvel Comics Universe for an as-yet-unannounced appearance in an upcoming film (our money’s on Captain America 3) before his own stand-alone film.
This will be the third incarnation of Spidey within ten years, though it seems this strategy will spare us a (re)-retread of his origin story. Rumoured by sites all over the internet (so it must be true) to play the new arachnid adventurer are Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) and Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson, Fury).
With this all going down, it’s no surprise that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 has now been undated, we presume it’ll slink off quietly into non-existence from here, since the box office returns on its direct predecessors weren’t outstanding, and we’re unlikely to see two Spideys simultaneously. Interestingly, though, Sinister 6 is slated for November 24th, 2016. This is what Marc Webb’s Andrew Garfield-starring films were building towards, a standalone pic with Spider-Man’s array of villains.
Will this work without Peter Parker? Tune in next time when Spidey says…
The only other changes to distributors’ release schedules are fairly minor, with films shuffling around by a week or so here and there. One notable exception – are Paramount no longer taking a punt on Mark Wahlberg? There’s no mention of The Gambler, a remake of the 1974 James Caan film about a professor whose gambling addiction gets him in strife with the Mob. The film made its production budget back in the U.S., but only took in $378,555 on its opening weekend in Australia – the sort of thing that can cause a bit of concern over this side of the ditch… The Gambler isn’t officially gone – yet – but don’t hold your breath.
What a surprise. Everyone went to see Fifty Shades of Grey. And they’ll keep going. And going and going and going. Over the weekend Fifty Shades posted the biggest R18 or R16 opening in NZ ever, and the biggest opening weekend of the year so far.
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Which trailer is most-watched on Flicks right now? Guy Ritchie’s either brilliantly- or poorly-timed The Man From U.N.C.L.E. – depending on how you feel this fairly traditional, if pleasantly ridiculous, spy tale will fare post-Kingsman.
