The president of Columbia Pictures, Doug Belgrad, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter and revealed some interesting details about what’s in the works for Sony. There were many topics discussed such as a potential reboot of the film “Jumanji” (WTF?!?!) and the status of the Steve Jobs biopic, but what I found interesting were his words regarding Marc Webb’s return to the “Amazing Spider-Man” franchise. Although some people *cough* Anthony *cough* may be thrilled about someone else taking over the franchise, I worry that these complications are treading along familiar territory and could lead to another “X-men: The Last Stand” disaster.
THR: Will Marc Webb return to direct the sequel?
Belgrad: We’d really like him back, but there are obstacles. He has an obligation to Fox. [Webb owes Fox a post-(500) Days of Summer film.]
We have all seen the repercussions of going toe to toe with Fox. When Brian Singer left the X-men franchise to work on “Superman Returns,” he also added James Marsden to the cast list who currently had obligations as Cyclops in the third X-men film. Fox did not like this so it is speculated that Marsden’s character was killed off because he worked with Singer.
This one response from Belgrad says a lot about the future of the Spider-Man franchise. Not only will it hold up the release of a sequel from the director who designated the flow of the films, but it may also mean we see a sequel to the film “500 Days of Summer,” which should not happen. Fox should just let Webb out of this; they will save themselves a headache. There should NOT be a sequel to “500 Days of Summer” but it is inevitable that an “Amazing Spider-Man” sequel will happen; just let it go Fox.
