Spidey Redux Premieres In Japan

Stars Andrew Garfield Emma Stone and producers  Avi Arad and Matthew Tolmach held a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday in part to announce that "The Amazing Spider-Man" will premiere in Japan on June 30, a few days ahead of its July 3rd North American release date.

The press conference was almost an hour long--The full video can be viewed below--Meanwhile--here are a few choice quotes that culled courtesy of SHH

They were asked how the Marc Webb directed reboot sets itself apart from Sam Raimi's still fresh in our minds  Spider-Man Trilogy, Arad responded:

“In our movie, [Peter] finds his true love. Gwen Stacy was always the true love of Peter Parker… We found a very, very good story about what makes a human being. About what sets their destiny.”

Arad explained the Peter/Gwen relationship, specifically how Dr. Connors aka The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) fits into the dynamic:

“We introduce our villain, Dr. Connors, and in the great tradition of Marvel, Dr. Connors is going to be connected to Peter Parker and, in our case even more interesting, to Gwen Stacy. Right there, the challenge of having to deal with a villain who is a mentor and the only one who you can look at and say, ‘So what really happened to my dad?’ That’s a very hard person to fight.”

The Japanese press were treated to a sneak peek at some of fresh footage that highlights Webb’s reliance on practical effects--Rather than CGI.

Garfield says:

“As you can see, a lot of the stunts are practical and grounded in reality. That was something that Marc, the director, really wanted to make sure happened in this movie to set it apart from previous ones… I would exhaust myself every day and get into near-death experiences every hour on the hour… I collaborated with [the stunt team] not only on the big stunt set-pieces but also on what happens to Peter’s body when he gets bitten. What happens to his DNA and how that effects the way he moves and the way he interacts with objects. The idea that he has spider DNA running in his system. What that will do to his sense of space. What that will do to the sensitivity of his skin. To have an opportunity to play in that forum with creative and talented people was a real opportunity and gift.”

Bravo! I love to hear that stuff--Given how much the industry relies on CG now...I always appreciate the effort to do as much and as many practical in camera effects on set as possible

Stone was asked if the reboot would include a memorable kiss like the upside down makeout as seen in the first film. She responded:

“You don’t want to know! You want to watch the movie and find out. Plus, it would be weird if we were like, ‘There’s something iconic coming up!’ You’ve got to decide if it’s iconic or not. But there is a nice first kiss and it’s different than the upside down one. And we liked it.”

Regular readers know of my Stone crush...I am once again struck by how well Garfield conducts himself here-and at the 2011 Comic Con -Given that he's taking up the reboot of something that as I said is not that old.



Martin Sheen Chris Zylka Denis Leary and Sally Field also star.

The script was penned by James Vanderbilt and Alvin Sargent

The sequel arrives in 2014.