Spider-Man Gets Release Date

Columbia Pictures has announced that its new Spider-Man reboot will be released on July 3, 2012. Entitled The Amazing Spider-Man, it will be shot and presented in true 3D (not post-production). I'm a little skeptical of a reboot at this point. Sam Raimi and his cast and crew conjured up two of the greatest superhero movies ever made with Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004). Spider-Man 3 (2007) was problematic, but mainly because it was too busy, too top-heavy with villains and romantic interests and subplots, but not because it was a bad movie. It moved with the same energy, humor, and speed as the first two. However, the fans took it hard and overreacted against it. Now that factor, combined with the current thirst for reboots, has resulted in this new one.

Andrew Garfield is a likable and interesting choice as Spider-Man. (See my recent interview with him.) Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) is a bizarre, seemingly random choice as a director -- he must have been the first one available -- but at least his last film was a good one. I'm more confident about the writers, Steve Kloves -- responsible for most of the Harry Potter movies -- and Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent, of Spider-Man 2, as well as James Vanderbilt, who likewise has a couple of good credits (The Losers, Zodiac, etc.)

As for the cast, I'm going to miss Kirsten Dunst, but Emma Stone (Zombieland, Easy A) is no slouch, and she should do fine. I doubt anyone can do crusty newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson as well as J.K. Simmons, but we'll see. The rest of the new movie's cast includes Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field. There are rumors that Philip Seymour Hoffman is being considered for Venom.

Anyway... Spider-Man is such a great character that it will be hard to mess him up. I even loved that cheesy old 1970s TV series (with the camera tilted sideways to show Spidey climbing up the side of a building) as well as that awful cartoon series that gave us that song ("does whatever a spider can!"). No matter what happens, I'll be there, and I'm sure everyone else will be too.