Sunday, April 20, 2014

Sony Wants A Billion In Box Office For Amazing Spider-Man 2


Wow...

Variety reports that Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascall has set a goal of $1 billion in worldwide box-office for Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 .

Trustfully though that figure isn't all that far fetched. 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man raked in $752 million, while the three previous films came in between $783 million to $890 million.

Even so, only four comic book movies have grossed over $1 billion worldwide -"The Avengers," "Iron Man 3," "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises".

Sony has reportedly spent more than $400 million in production and worldwide marketing costs riding on the movie. It is paying off though the tracking figures suggest the film is headed for a $100 million opening weekend in the United States - a big jump up on the $62 million opening weekend of the first film.

Yet how long it will be tops is a big question. The film opens in the wake of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," a film whose staller  reviews contrast the more mixed reaction by a handful of critics who have seen "Amazing Spider-Man 2" (most U.S. reviews for the pic have not been published yet).

It also has two weeks to net big before the "Godzilla" reboot opens and three weeks before the release of Bryan Singer's "X-Men Days of Future Past" both of which are targeting the same audience demos.

I am pulling for the Amazing sequel to do well--I would be lying though if I did not say the crowded plot didn't have me thinking about both my review of Spider-Man 3 as well as my review of Iron Man 2....

Stay Tuned True-Believers...

Andrew Garfield will return as Peter Parker and Emma Stone is gonna reprise her role as Gwen Stacy. Do these set pics confirm that the classic story The Night Gwen Stacy Died is part of the film? For the record Stone endorsed the idea in August 2012 when The Amazing Spider-Man was still in theaters...Stone was asked by Ryan Seacrest about her character's future to which she said: "I think the intention the whole time has been to tell Gwen's story as close to the comic as possible".

Dane DeHaan ("Chronicle") has won the role of Harry Osborn Osborn of course is Peter Parker's best friend and eventual enemy who was played by James Franco previously. Jamie Foxx will be playing bad guy Electro. Paul Giamatti plays the villain, the Rhino. Sally Field is back as Aunt May. Chris Cooper has been cast as Norman Osborn--who eventually becomes Spidey's number one foe--The Green Goblin--The character was played previously by Willem Dafoe Felicity Jones (Like Crazy), plays Norman's girlfriend in the film. Former Office star B.J. Novak plays Alistaire Smythe in the film. In the comics, Alistair is the son of 'Spider-Slayer' creator Spencer Smythe. Spider-Slayers are a series of robots that sought to destroy Spider-Man--Spencer died after prolonged exposure to the radioactive samples. Alistair inherited the legacy from his father and became a villain in his own right called the 'Ultimate Spider-Slayer'. He not only built more robots but also body armor that can enhance his strength. While there was speculation that actress Sarah Gadon ("Cosmopolis," "A Dangerous Method") was going to be the new Mary Jane Watson, given the fact that Shailene Woodley's performance as the character had been cut.  As it turns out though Gadon DOES appear in "Amazing 2" after all as an entirely different character. She is actually playing an android cop.

Here's the Sony Pictures' official synopsis:

"We've always known that Spider-Man's most important battle has been within himself: the struggle between the ordinary obligations of Peter Parker and the extraordinary responsibilities of Spider-Man. But in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker finds that a greater conflict lies ahead. It's great to be Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield). For Peter Parker, there's no feeling quite like swinging between skyscrapers, embracing being the hero, and spending time with Gwen (Emma Stone). But being Spider-Man comes at a price: only Spider-Man can protect his fellow New Yorkers from the formidable villains that threaten the city. With the emergence of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Peter must confront a foe far more powerful than he. And as his old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, Peter comes to realize that all of his enemies have one thing in common: OsCorp."

Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinkner wrote the script based on a previous draft by James Vanderbilt.

Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach will produce.

The new film is now ready to meet its May 2nd 2014 release date.

Both The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4 already have release dates--The writers of Amazing 2 are also set to return for the 3rd film. The series will grow from there to include other members of the extended Spidey family

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