AMAZING SPIDER MAN THREAD!

[Dave Cormier]

Just got up. I took my son to see the midnight showing last night. He absolutley loved it after being a solid fan of the last trilogy. Totally won him over. I thought it was really good and there are things I think they did better with this movie than the old series. Conversely, I think there are things about the old series that were better handled than this. But this movie was in no way a mixed bag, IMO.

Great special effects, and the movements of Spidey jumping, crawling, swinging etc were much better than in previous films. They seem to use some of that parkour shit for refference, and it works really well. More believable.

Kind of torn on the new kid. He doesn't look nearly Peter-like as Toby Maguire did, but his acting was so solid that I bought it anyway. You felt his emotional pain much better than Maguire made you feel it. He did seem way too much what girls like in boys nowadays, and not the social misfit Peter is supposed to be. This would be the kid girls would flock to in school so I found that pretty lacking.

And I was glad to be rid of the campiness. It was un the first time around, but the old series doesn't hold up over time because of it. The serious tone of this movie worked maybe because of the extra humor they threw in to balance it out. Spidey does a lot more of the wisecracking and toyin with criminals that he does in the comics.

The Lizard was pretty good and the effects on him were well done. I'm not a Spidey fan so I'm sure there are things that will piss off real Spidey fans that I'm willing to let slide or am ignorant about.

Honestly, this was a really good movie and washes the bad taste of Spiderman 3 out of my mouth.

[SDcomics]

The Amazing Spider-Man Takes in $7.5 Million in Midnights

by SuperHeroHype

July 03, 2012

Sony Pictures is reporting that Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man brought in $7.5 million in 3,150 midnight screenings last night with $1.2 million, roughly 16% of that amount, coming from the 300 IMAX screens which had midnight showings.

This is similar to what Spider-Man 3 took in at midnight on May 4, 2007, and that ended up making $59.8 million its opening Friday on its way to a record-setting opening weekend of $151 million. Today being Tuesday may lower that amount considerably even with most schools being out and people leaving work early for the 4th of July holiday tomorrow. We couldn't find reports on what Spider-Man 2, the last installment to open over the Independence Day week, did in midnights but it made $40.4 million its opening day.

By comparison, Michael Bay's original Transformers did $8.8 million in midnights (including 10pm previews) when it opened on the same day five years ago. Its sequel Transformers: Rise of the Fallen made $16.6 in midnight screenings alone while last year's Transformers: Dark of the Moon did $13.5 million (again including previous night previews).

ComingSoon.net's box office guru The Weekend Warrior predicted an opening day of $27 to 30 million for The Amazing Spider-Man earlier today, but with $7.5 million already in the bank, it should definitely be on the higher side of that amount if not closer to the opening day of Spider-Man 2.

Stay tuned tomorrow and over the rest of the week for more updates on how The Amazing Spider-Man is doing compared to previous installments, and if you've seen the movie, make sure to let us know what you think.

[SDcomics]

From IGN:

Making Sense of Amazing Spider-Man's After Credits End Scene

Spoilers! Not sure what to make of Amazing Spider-Man's Easter egg scene? Here are some possible explanations...'

by Scott Collura

May 11, 2012

SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED ON THE FILM.

The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony's reboot of the wallcrawler, just hit theaters today, but some fans are already buzzing about the planned sequel to the film. Amazing Spider-Man 2 is already being written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Transformers, Star Trek), so it would seem logical that the studio would want to tease that follow-up in some way to the many, many fans who are seeing the film this summer.

Additionally, Chronicle director Josh Trank has been rumored to be up for a Venom solo movie. So clearly Sony wants to mine the Spider-Man universe. And let's assume they've at least taken notice -- as has the rest of the world -- of the very successful Marvel Studios movies, and in particular the resounding success of The Avengers. An Easter egg or after-credits scene of course makes sense for Amazing Spider-Man -- and we in fact do get one in the middle of the end credits of the new film. But what does it mean exactly?

The brief scene features Dr. Curt Connors, the once and future Lizard, who has now been imprisoned. As he sits in his cell, a shadowy figure appears from out of nowhere -- did he teleport into the cell? -- and a brief exchange takes place between the two regarding Peter Parker's father. The mysterious character asks Connors if he told Peter about his father, and then shortly thereafter he seemingly disappears once again. Actually, you can catch a glimpse of this scene in the third Spider-Man trailer:

'THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN' Official Trailer #3 (2012) [HD]	powered by Aeva

Scrub to 1.24 to see Dr. Connors' mysterious pal.

Who is this guy? Is he Connors' boss, lurking in the dark corners of the film, but actually the real villain of the piece? We know that Connors works for Oscorp, and we know who runs Oscorp, don't we? Norman Osborn, of course! A.k.a the Green Goblin -- or at least, the guy who will become the Green Goblin one day -- Osborn is one of the big bads of the Marvel universe. He's Spidey's arch foe much as the Joker is Batman's, and let's not forget that Chris Nolan decided to save the Joker for his second Batman movie. And of course, Osborn is named-dropped throughout Amazing Spider-Man... though doesn't it seem a bit too obvious for it to actually be him?

Another possibility, though perhaps more of a long shot than Osborn, is -- wait for it -- Peter Parker's dad himself, Richard Parker! Played by Campbell Scott in flashback (along with Embeth Davidtz as Pete's mom Mary), Richard is said to be dead during this film, having been killed when Peter was still a boy -- in the grand Spider-Man tradition. But it also is clear that Richard Parker's dealings with Dr. Connors and Oscorp, of which he was also an employee before his death, tie directly into Peter's origin as Spider-Man in this film. And reportedly, the plan is to continue to flesh out this story arc in future movies. Loyal Marvel zombies will also recall that Spidey's folks did return from the dead in the comics at one point -- kinda sorta. Actually, they turned out to be Life Model Decoys. Ask Tony Stark what that is if you don't know.

One other suggestion -- and this is total fanboyism at work -- is this is a Venom tie-in. The character -- sometimes a villain, sometimes an antihero, and sometimes a hero -- remains very popular. His current incarnation in the comics is as Flash Thompson, Peter Parker's longtime frenemy, and Flash is in fact in the new movie (played by Chris Zylka). And again, Sony is still pushing for a Venom movie… So, yeah. Not sure how that shadowy guy could tie-in to Venom, but that's what retconning is for!

Fans have suggested the Easter egg character might be Electro (flash of light!) or Mysterio (magic tricks!) or any number of other Spidey villains, while others are whispering that it's Inglourious Basterds' Christoph Waltz playing the role. And the bottom line is, unlike The Avengers Thanos Easter egg, the Spidey ending is vague enough that it really could wind up being any of the above when Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits a couple of years from now.

Who do you think the shadowy figure at the end of Amazing Spider-Man is? Discuss below!

[John Moores]

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-amazing-spiderman,82044/

[SDcomics]

The Amazing Spider-Man Scores Record Tuesday Opening with $35 Million

by SuperHeroHype

July 04, 2012

We hope all our readers in the United States are enjoying the 4th of July holiday today and certainly Sony Pictures must be pretty happy with the $35 million grossed by Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man in its opening day yesterday, including the $7.5 million from midnight screenings. $4 million of that amount is from the movie's IMAX 3D screenings.

That amount surpasses the previous Tuesday record of $27.8 million set and held by Michael Bay's Transformers exactly five years ago, and it's a promising start to what should be a strong week which could defy earlier expectations for the movie.

Check back over the rest of the weekend for more box office updates on The Amazing Spider-Man.

[Big Raj]

Just got back from the 11:45 show.  I really enjoyed it.  Probably not as much as the first 2 Raimi flicks, but it's in that territory.  I love them focusing more on Peter's intelligence, although I didn't like him taking credit for something he didn't come up with. (Keeping it non-spoilery)  I agree with Dave that Garfield looks less like Peter than Tobey, but nailed Parker's awkward nature, especially with Gwen.  Stone was great as Gwen, as was Denis Leary as Capt. Stacy.  Surprisingly, I liked Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Ben and May better than the actors in the Raimi-verse.  The CGI was much improved here, and the Lizard was very impressive.  I thought the humor was well-done, but there wasn't enough of it.  Outside of grunts from Spidey and growls from Lizard, the characters were too quiet during their fights.  I prefer Spidey cracking wise when he's really overmatched.  Not quite The Avengers, but a very fine start to the rebooted franchise.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Saw the 10:20 show with April this morning.  About 3/4 full, lots of families/kids.  We both thought it was much better than expected, and I personally thought it was better than Tobey 1 and 3...not quite up to where 2 is, but still an excellent movie.  I thought Garfield was pretty good, Stone & Leary & Sheen were great, and the CGI was pretty much brilliant. 

I also really enjoyed Spider-Man using his powers/agility/webbing to their fullest extent, just like in the comics.  I didn't think there was enough of that at all in the previous trilogy.

Also...best Stan Lee cameo EVER.  Hilarious stuff.

Peace,

Chip

[SDcomics]

The Amazing Spider-Man Earns 2nd Highest 4th of July Gross

by SuperHeroHype

July 05, 2012

According to Sony Pictures, The Amazing Spider-Man took in $23.4 million yesterday to bring its two-day total to $59.2 million, at the same time increasing their opening day box office estimate to $35.8 million.
 
That's a 35% day-to-day drop (or 17% if you remove the midnight screenings) but it's also the second-highest daily gross for a movie playing on the 4th of July.
 
By comparison, Michael Bay's Transformers actually increased to make $29.1 million five years ago, setting a 4th of July record, while Spider-Man 2 made $22 million on 4th of July in 2004, although that was its fourth day in theaters.
 
Sony have also upped their internal estimate for the movie's first six days to $120 to 130 million or more.
 
Check back tomorrow and over the weekend for more box office updates on Sony's superhero reboot.

[SDcomics]

The Amazing Spider-Man Planned as Trilogy

by SuperHeroHype

July 05, 2012

When SuperHeroHype spoke with producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach last week, the latter was non-commital about how many movies may follow this week's The Amazing Spider-Man despite already having a sequel in the process of being written.

As Tolmach told us:

"We knew that it was going to be more than one, and at the very least three. We're going to let this movie tell us what the story is."

But now the official Facebook page seems to have decided they may as well go ahead and make another trilogy.

As stated in a post on Monday:

"It's finally here! The Amazing Spider-Man is the first installment in a movie TRILOGY that will explore how our fave hero's journey was shaped by the disappearance of his parents."

That capitalization of the word "trilogy" was our own, because even though Sony has already committed to a sequel before The Amazing Spider-Man opened, scheduling it for May 2, 2014, and even offered a potential tease in the end credits scene, there was no guarantee that having two movies would warrant a third. (Case in point: Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider movies.)

Another sign that a sequel was definitely going to happen was Marvel Studios' recent decision to move their scheduled and still unconfirmed mid-May 2014 release to early August. Presumably that's to give Sony Pictures a bit more room with the Spider-Man sequel and a little more breathing space for their own Captain America sequel, which is being released in early April 2014.

There's still no word on whether director Marc Webb will direct one or more movies or if Sony Pictures will be looking for another director to take the helm.

[SDcomics]

Concept Art for The Amazing Spider-Man Revealed

by SuperHeroHype

July 05, 2012

With The Amazing Spider-Man already breaking some box office records and impressing fans around the globe  we thought it fitting to take a look at what went into the making of the flick. Concept art can be some of the coolest aspects of pre-production on films, especially for these expensive tentpole movies.

Check out this concept art  of Spidey's costume and The Lizard from The Aaron Sims Company and Eddie Yang Studio. Plus if you've seen the film, check out more concept art from George Hull Design (spoiler warning if you haven't seen it)

The Amazing Spider-Man is now playing in theaters nationwide.

   

     

[fishmilkshake]

I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I missed the whole "With great power..." speech as the stuff they used instead wasn't as good and it's just not right not having J.Jonah in there somewhere. But the action scenes with Spidey fighting the Lizard, etc, were superb.

Once again an hour of bullshit origin to get to Spidey. Can't wait for the next one to just get to it.

[Scot Eric]

To get myself in the mood to see a Spidey film, I watched Spider-Man on Thursday and Spider-Man 2 last night before seeing The Amazing Spider-Man this afternoon.

I give it my seal of approval.  In many ways, I actually liked it better than the first Raimi film.  The characters are more fully realized, empathetic & relatable.  Garfield is a fine Peter Parker, but the support of Martin Sheen & Sally Field as Uncle Ben & Aunt May trounce Cliff Robertson & Rosemary Harris.  The chemistry and scenes between Stone & Garfield have far more crackling electricity and good old fashioned chemistry than any moment (including any upside down kiss) between Maguire & Dunst.  Denis Leary's Captain Stacy almost makes up for no JJJ in the film (though I'd expect JJJ to appear in the 2nd film).  And the Lizard was less goofy looking than that Goblin get-up.

Did they change stuff?  Sure.  At this point, should we even care unless it's something truly egregious?  But it took a story I felt I had seen before and made it both fresh & compelling.  Fuck, comic book writers fucking retcon shit all the time.  It's a good movie that feels a little more genuine and a little less cartoony, and maybe my lowered expectations played a major part -- but I was won over.

Tell ya this -- I think I preferred this film to most of the Marvel movies from the "shared universe", and definitely more than any X-Men movie (including First Class).

[Rod Keith]

Great review, Scot. I've been trying to avoid spoilers while still trying to get a feel for the film, and thought I'd chance a quick peek here. This gets me excited to see the thing (which I wasn't really before) without telling me too much.

[Scot Eric]

Yeah, I didn't want to spoil anything.  The strongest thing about the film is the way the main romantic relationship is handled -- which feels more real here than in most movies of this "ilk".  It's little surprise that Stone & Garfield have started dating in real life.

I thought it was amusing that issues of "responsibility" are mentioned throughout the film -- but the famous phrase isn't ever said.  Maybe because of how it was hammered home in Raimi's film?

It's just a good film.  It doesn't try to be this overstuffed epic bursting at the seams like Santa's bag on December 23rd.  It's one of the nicest surprises I've had over a "reboot" I was initially skeptical about since Star Trek.

BTW: watching the first two Raimi movies -- I was amazed by the folks who appear in those films in tiny parts: Octavia Spencer, Jim Norton, Emily Deschannel, Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks...

[SDcomics]

The Amazing Spider-Man Adds $20.7 Million on Friday

by SuperHeroHype

July 07, 2012

Sony Pictures reported this morning that director Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man added an estimated $20.7 million on Friday at the domestic box office which should put it on track to earn in the $60-65 million range for the weekend.

For its opening six days, the action adventure is expected to make between $135 and $140 million in North America.

Comparing the opening to Christopher Nolan's Batman films, the first installment Batman Begins opened to $48.7 million its first weekend and made $79.5 million its first six days in June of 2005.

Sony also said that Men in Black 3 has surpassed $600 million worldwide and earned $525,000 yesterday for a North American total of $171.9 million so far.

Stay tuned for the full box office estimates for the weekend on Sunday.

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