Ah, release dates. They’re the first thing attached to a major tentpole feature these days, long before a director, cast or official title. Such is the way with the superhero genre in particular, as studios do their best to out-plan each others’ attempts to dominate the box office – with Marvel, Warner/DC, Sony and Fox all battling for quantity over quality in the next few years.
Part of that line-up is Sony’s AMAZING SPIDER-MAN franchise, which saw its first sequel released in April of this year to an underwhelming response – both critically and commercially. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 has currently grossed just shy of $700 million at the worldwide box office, which marks an all-time low for the franchise, and $60 million less than director Marc Webb’s first web-slinging reboot in 2012.
Perhaps because of that, it appears Sony is rethinking its strategy, with word leaking that the studio may have moved the next franchise instalment from its original 10th June, 2016 release to an undetermined date in 2017. Sony has previously announced plans to release a new SPIDER-MAN film every year from 2016, with SINISTER SIX and VENOM spin-offs to fill in the gaps between the numbered instalments.
So, chances are the studio may rush one of those spin-offs into production to fill the 2016 release date supposedly left vacant by THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 3. Alex Kurtzman is on board to direct VENOM and has been for quite a while, with Drew Goddard set to write and direct THE SINISTER SIX. As THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 spent most of its runtime playing set-up to the latter of those two spin-offs, don’t be surprised if that’s the next Spidey film you see in cinemas.
Still, I’m more than happy to wait forever for Marc Webb’s threequel, based on the mishandled mess that was THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. In fact, how about you just give it up altogether, Sony?
Source: AICN
