In what has to be viewed as a pretty shocking announcement, Sony has posted a press release on their The Amazing Spider-Man 2 viral site www.electroarrives.com stating that they have begun working on movies for Venom and The Sinister Six.
Venom makes perfect sense to me but The Sinister Six seems like an odd choice. Are they really expecting the audience to follow a group of villains that they had previously rooted against? Or is the Sinister Six going to be acting as good guys of some sort in this? Either way doesn’t feel quite right… but who knows.
Official Press Release:
SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT TO EXPAND THE SPIDER-MAN UNIVERSE ON
SCREEN WITH ALL-STAR WRITING TEAM
Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard to
Collaborate with
Marc Webb and Producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach
on Developing the Universe and Expanding the Story in
“The Amazing Spider-Man 3,” “Venom,” and “The Sinister Six”
CULVER CITY, Calif., December 12, 2013 – In a move to forge a new legacy in the story of
Peter Parker on screen, Sony Pictures Entertainment, in association with Marvel Entertainment,
is developing several new projects in the Spider-Man franchise, with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto
Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard to collaborate on overseeing the developing
story over several films that will be produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, it was announced
today by Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures, and Hannah Minghella, president of
Production for the studio.
The five writers, along with the two producers and Marc Webb, have formed a franchise brain
trust to expand the universe for the brand and to develop a continuous tone and thread
throughout the films. Under the deals, the studio announced that Kurtzman & Orci & Pinkner
are writing the screenplay for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which the studio hopes Webb will
return to direct; the film will go into production next fall for release on June 10, 2016. In
addition, the team will build on the cinematic foundation laid by Webb, Arad, and Tolmach in the
first two movies. They will expand the franchise as Kurtzman & Orci & Solomon will write the
screenplay for Venom, which Kurtzman will direct; also, Goddard will write, with an eye to
direct, The Sinister Six, focusing on the villains in the franchise. Hannah Minghella and Rachel
O’Connor will oversee the development and production of these films for the studio.
In tapping these five writers, the studio and the producers are guiding the future of the franchise
with the writer/producers who have each played significant and key roles in developing such
highly successful franchises, films, and series as Star Trek, Transformers, “Alias,” “Fringe,” Men
in Black, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, World War Z, “Lost,” Cloverfield, The Cabin in the
Woods, and Marvel’s upcoming “Daredevil” series.
Commenting on the announcement, Belgrad said, “The Spider-Man film franchise is one of our
studio’s greatest assets. We are thrilled with the creative team we have assembled to delve
more deeply into the world that Marc, Avi and Matt have begun to explore in The Amazing
Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. We believe that Marc, Alex, and Drew have
uniquely exciting visions for how to expand the Spider-Man universe in each of these upcoming
films.”
Arad and Tolmach added, “This collaboration was born out of the great experience we and Marc
had working with Alex, Bob, and Jeff on The Amazing Spider-Man 2. With more than fifty years’
wealth of stories in the comic books to draw upon for inspiration, the Spider-Man universe is
truly boundless; in addition, the Spider-Man comics have the greatest rogues gallery of any
series, and to have the chance to explore that on film is truly thrilling. Until now, we have
approached each film as a separate, self-contained entity, but with this move, we have the
opportunity to grow the franchise by looking to the future as we develop a continuous arc for the
story. That is what Alex, Bob, Jeff, Ed, and Drew will do in this unprecedented collaboration,
and we’re excited about the directions they are taking the character and the world.”
The most successful franchise in the history of Columbia Pictures, Spider-Man is embraced all
over the world. The four Spider-Man films to date have taken in over $3.2 billion worldwide.
Spider-Man, Venom, The Sinister Six and other Spider-Man related characters are licensed to
Sony by Marvel Entertainment.
Action Movie Fanatix 