Spider-Man
2002's surprise blockbuster hit featuring Marvel comics superhero "Spiderman" starred Tobey Maguire as Spiderman aka Peter Parker, Kirsten Dunst as his love interest Mary Jane Watson, Willem Dafoe as his arch enemy Green Goblin, James Franco as his friEND
Before Willem Dafoe received the role of the Green Goblin, both Nicolas Cage and John Malkovich were offered the role. Malkovich and Dafoe starred together in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), which was produced by Nicolas Cage.
James Franco auditioned to play Peter Parker, but was cast as Harry Osborn instead.
Freddie Prinze Jr. and Leonardo DiCaprio were both considered for the role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
Sam Raimi was not Sony's first choice as director. Others considered were 'DeBont, Jan' , James Cameron Ang Lee and David Fincher.
Alicia Witt was considered for the role of Mary-Jane Watson.
Elisha Cuthbert auditioned for the role of Mary-Jane Watson.
Pre-production planning for Spider-Man actually began in 1986 by Cannon Films. Later, Cannon sold the production rights to Carolco Pictures. Carolco would later sell the production rights to Sony Pictures. Sony Pictures and Marvel would produce the Spider-Man film we see today, released through Sony's "Columbia Pictures" division.
James Cameron wrote a treatment for this film, over the years, as the rights to the character jumped between companies, nearly all his ideas were scrapped except for the biological web-shooters.
USA Today had expected its logo to appear in Spider-Man, replacing one on a billboard in Times Square. "But a legal web proved to be a snag," it said, after Sherwood 48 Associates, the owner of the billboard sued the studio. (The USA Today logo was seen on the billboard in the trailers and commercials for the movie.)
The writers Alvin Sargent & Scott Rosenberg contribute to the last uncredited re-write on the shooting script.
In preparation for his role, Tobey Maguire trained for a short while before the screen test and after he got the role, went on a strict exercise regime and specific diet for five months.
The scene at Columbia University was filmed on an unseasonably warm spring day, however, the costume department had provided the high school extras with cold-weather clothing. The real Columbia University students can be seen in the background wearing shorts and t-shirts by contrast.
A welder building sets for the movie was killed 6 March 2001, when a crane toppled onto a construction basket in which he was riding and struck him in the head.
Zach Hudson the stunt double for Tobey Maguire, fractured his leg after a stunt went wrong and he slammed in to a brick wall.
Several Spider-Man costumes were created at a cost of up to $100,000 each. Four were stolen from the set in early April of 2001 and Columbia Pictures posted a $25,000 reward for their return. The costumes were not returned.
The genetically modified spider that bit Peter Parker was not a black widow spider, but a Steatoda spider, which was chosen by Steven R. Kutcher and painted red and blue by Jens Schnabel, while the spider was anaesthetized.
The sketches Peter Parker does of his costume were actually done by Phil Jimenez, an artist on Wonder Woman comics.
The original trailer for the movie depicted a theft of a bank, with the robbers making a getaway in a helicopter. A close-up of the helicopter was shown, until the helicopter stopped, apparently caught in mid-air. As the camera zoomed out, it was shown that the helicopter was caught in a spider web, suspended between the two towers of the World Trade Center. After the attacks on the towers 11 September 2001, however, the trailer was changed.
The World Trade Center Towers can be seen in the background of some scenes and once in the reflection of Spider-Man's eye. The makers of the film chose not to remove them digitally.
The owners of the billboards on Times Square are suing Sony and those involved with the production of Spider-Man 'for digitally superimposing advertisements for other companies over their billboard space in the film'.
Bleu's song "Somebody Else" was originally written to be the theme for a different superhero, Superman for the TV series _Smallville (2001)_
In the comics, Peter Parker designed and made Spider-Man's synthetic spider web and the mechanical wrist guns that fire it. In the movie he shoots the web from his own body. Director Sam Raimi answered the protests of comic book fans saying that it was more credible to have Peter shoot web this way than for a high school boy to be able to produce a wonder adhesive in his spare time that 3M could not make.
Tobey Maguire said he had never read a Spider-Man comic book, but that he took the role because he liked the script.
Director Trademark: [Sam Raimi] The 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 appears in the movie as Uncle Ben's car.
Director Trademark: [Sam Raimi] Shaky-cam shot (created by Raimi) on the Green Goblin,
Director Trademark: [Sam Raimi] Features by longtime friend Bruce Campbell and brother Ted Raimi
Director Trademark: [Sam Raimi] Dual personalities of one person looking in a mirror, also exhibited in Evil Dead II (1987) , directed by Sam Raimi
Directors Trademark (Sam Raimi): The Whip-Pan is used in the scene where Norman Osborn walks into Peter Parker's bedroom.
Cameo: [Stan Lee] creator of Spider-Man, in the scene where the Green Goblin attacks the balcony at the world unity festival.
CAMEO:(Lucy Lawless) as a punk girl (Director Sam Raimi was and executive producer of _Xena: Warrior Princess (1995)_ )
The film contains multiple references to future Spider-Man villains- Doctor Curtis Connors (Lizard). Eddie Brock (Venom) Harry Osborn (Green Goblin#2). Mendel Stromm, (Robot Master)
The sequence of Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) talking to his board members begins with the same shot (a steady pull back along a table framed symmetrically) and dialogue "Costs are down, revenues are up, and our stock has never been higher" as a scene in _ Hudsucker Proxy, The (1994)_ , in which Sam Raimi was co-writer and 2nd unit director. Both films also have a fast-talking newspaper chief.
Also, in the scene where The Green Goblin attempts to form an alliance with Spider Man, the Goblin confuses the words "fail" and "fall". This is a direct reference to a similar scene between Tim Robbins and Charles Durning in _ Hudsucker Proxy, The (1994)
A sign in front of Peter Parker and Harry Osborne's apartment building: Webstring Platform.
During the World Unity parade, a billboard for Terminix can be seen, one of many insect-related inside jokes
Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom, appears in a non-speaking cameo as a board member of Oscorp, Norman Osborne's company.
When spider-man fights with his uncle's killer he smashes a couple of glass panes with his head. In Sam Raimi's Darkman (1990); his first superhero film, the thugs attack Liam Neeson the same way in his lab. At the end of the film, Spider-man walks away from his beloved saying "I'm Spider-man". This is also identical with the ending sequence of Darkman, with the exception of the hero's name of course.
The mask of the Green Goblin also appears as the head of a winged creature in Army of Darkness (1993), another Sam Raimi film.
When Peter Parker is testing out his webbing for the first time, he makes several classic comic book catch-phrases, most notably "Up Up and Away Web!" (Superman) and "Shazam!" (Captain Marvel).
During the ending credits, the theme of the original Spider-Man animated series is played.
During the World Unity Fair fight scene, in the background one of the signs on the buildings shows a police officer and behind him read the words "Protecting, Serving, Blah Blah Blah."
In the Thanksgiving dinner scene, both Peter Parker and Norman Osborn wear their enemy's costume colors - Peter wearing a green shirt, and Norman wearing a blue shirt with a red tie.
One of Peter's sketches for his costume is of Marvel Comics superhero Stingray.
When Peter Parker browses through several newspapers looking for a used car, one of the ads shown is for an Alfa Romeo convertible: that model was marketed in Italy under the name 'Spider'.
Danny Elfman is the composer for the score of Spider-Man. He'd also written the score of other films starring a comic book hero, Batman and Darkman.
When Uncle Ben's Killer crashes the car into the gate after Spider-Man leaps off, the police car that pulls into frame on the right side has a very obvious license plate with "1927" being the only markings. This 1927 is to honor John Buscema, a legendary comic artist who was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 11, 1927. He sadly passed away on January 10, 2002. Buscema was a great friend of Stan Lee's and worked for both Marvel and DC Comics.
Tobey Maguire’s involvement in “Spider-Man 2” was in severely in doubt at one point due to his severe back pain that resulted from an injury he received while filming “Seabiscuit.” Jake Gyllenhaal (“Zodiac”) was lined up to take over the part and even began very early preparations
During the first “Spider-Man” film, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst’s on-screen chemistry turned into a real-life relationship, but the two split before filming the second film, which made things a little uncomfortable. But the actors remained professional and put their differences aside to create an awesome film.
The name of Peter’s landlord in “Spider-Man 2,” Mr. Ditkovitch, is a reference to Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko.
5 The Spider-Man costumes cost upwards of $100,000 each to produce. Four of the valued costumes were stolen from the set of the original film and never recovered. Even a $25,000 reward for their recovery turned up no clues to the costumes’ whereabouts.
A vegetarian, Tobey Maguire ate a tofu hot dog in the scene in “Spider-Man 2” where Peter is supposed to watch police cars zoom by as he eats a New York street dog.
Spider-Man 2” was sent to cinemas under the name “Spray Paint” to avoid the attention of pirates looking to burn the flick to DVD and sell it on the street
The phone number on Peter’s helmet for Joe’s Pizzeria in “Spider-Man 2” belongs to a real New York pizza joint
At one point, “Spider-Man 2” was considering a number of different titles including: “Spider-Man: No More,” “Spider-Man Lives” and “Spider-Man: Unmasked.”
The noise heard whenever Spidey’s web touches something was made by hitting tape from a cassette against leather strips on the floor.
Director Sam Raimi gave “Spider-Man 3” villain Thomas Haden Church a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #4—the first appearance of his character, Sandman—as a “thank you” for doing the film.
The two young boys who hand Spider-Man his mask on the train after Spidey’s fight with Doc Ock in “Spider-Man 2” are Tobey Maguire’s real-life half-brothers, Weston Epp and Jopaul Epp.
When Mary Jane is running through the park at the end of “Spider-Man 2,” look closely and you’ll see “Punisher” star Thomas Jane strolling by, who has publicly admitted it was him in the movie.
Although “Spider-Man 3” may be the last film for Director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, Sony and Marvel have both said there will be more “Spider-Man” films in the future
David Koepp's fourth screenplay to hold the opening weekend box office record. The others are Jurassic Park (1993) (June 1993), _Mission:Impossible (1996)_ (May 1996) and _Lost World:Jurassic Park, The (1997)_ (May 1997).
Superman Returns
The fourth in the Superman series of movies and the first of the new trilogy, Superman Returns shot entirely in Sydney, Australia follows the adventures of Superman played brilliantly by newcomer Brandon Routh, Lois Lane played by Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey as the formidable Lex Luthor.
Bryan Singer was picked to direct after the studio was impressed with Christopher Nolan's naturalized version of Batman in Batman Begins (2005) and thought that Singer could bring the same gritty real world feel to Superman.
Before Kate Bosworth was cast as Lois Lane, some other actresses being considered included Elisha Cuthbert, Claire Danes, and Keri Russell.
After Brett Ratner's departure, and with the success of Charlie's Angels (2000), McG was tipped to direct the film in 2001. He left the project in 2002 to do Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), and came back aboard the project in 2004, but left it again after disagreements over budget and filming location. Warner Bros. had wanted to move from New York City to Australia, but McG felt that "it was inappropriate to try to capture the heart of America on another continent."
While the project was under Brett Ratner's supervision, actors Josh Hartnett, Paul Walker, Matthew Bomer, Brendan Fraser, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, Ian Somerhalder, Henry Cavill and Jerry O'Connell were considered for the part of Superman. Brett Ratner left the project primarily because he and Warner Bros. executives could not agree on whom to cast as Superman.
Anthony Hopkins was set to play Jor-El of Krypton, but after Ratner left, Hopkins did the same.
Johnny Depp was considered for the roles of Lex Luthor and Jor-El.
Actors McG was screening before his departure include Jason Behr and Jared Padalecki for the role of Superman, Scarlett Johansson for Lois Lane, and 'Shia LaBeouf' for Jimmy Olsen.
Kevin Smith's original script, to which Tim Burton was immediately attached, was based on D.C. Comics' 1993 series in which Superman was killed by a creature named Doomsday and then brought back to life more powerful than before. After a lengthy development process, Warner Bros. chose not to go with Smith's script and hired other writers, such as _Alias_ creator J.J. Abrams, to revive the series.
It took ten years and three vastly different directors to finally get the project off the ground.
Tim Burton's "Superman Lives" was far enough into pre-production at the time it was canceled that the studio had already designed a teaser poster to be displayed in theatres. It consisted of a stylized silver "S" shield set against a black background, with the phrase "Coming 1998" displayed across the bottom third of the poster. Finalized copies of the poster were printed up, but it's unclear how many were made before the movie was called off.
"Alias" (2001) creator and writer J.J. Abrams wrote a complete shooting draft of the script, which both Brett Ratner and McG were planning to shoot when they both left the project for both creative and budget reasons. Abrams' script has now been rejected by the studio, which is opting to go with X-Men (2000) writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty for a new screenplay.
When Bryan Singer took over this project, he immediately brought over his production staff consisting of cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, composer/editor John Ottman, production designer Guy Dyas, and writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty from X2 (2003) to meet Warner Bros.' release date for the film.
Director Bryan Singer decided on using stock footage of Marlon Brando that was originally shot by Superman (1978) director Richard Donner for the Singer version. Brando and Christopher Reeve were once filmed interacting with one another to be used in Superman II (1980), but due to a lawsuit against the Salkinds for a percentage of the sequel, the scenes were deleted and re-shot using the mother instead.
Jude Law was Bryan Singer's only choice to play General Zod. After Law turned down the role several times, Singer eliminated the character from the script.
Actors including Eric Christian Olsen, Topher Grace, and Shawn Ashmore were being considered for the role of Jimmy Olson before Sam Huntington was cast.
James Caviezel expressed great interest in the role of Superman, but director Bryan Singer refused to cast him because he felt that Caviezel was "too famous" after starring in The Passion of the Christ (2004).
The crew in Tamworth grew their own corn. It took twelve weeks for them to get the corn just right.
The Kent farm was originally built on a sound stage and was then disassembled, moved to Tamworth, Australia, and reconstructed and redressed.
The movie was filmed in Sydney, Australia at Fox Studios. The Kent family home was filmed in Tamworth, Australia.
Mischa Barton and Keira Knightley were considered for the role of Lois Lane.
Jack Larson who plays Bo the Bartender played Jimmy Olsen in the original _Adventures of Superman(1952)_ .
According to an article in the 12 September 2005 issue of Newsweek, the biggest question concerning Superman's costume involved the size and shape of the bulge in the front of his tights. Costume designer Louise Mingenbach finally decided on a bulge that wasn't too big. "Ten-year-olds will be seeing this movie," she explained.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Bryan Singer discussed a scene that was in an early draft of the screenplay but never filmed: "At one point," the director recalls, "I had a scene in the script which I never shot, and I probably was never going to shoot, where Superman would be standing -- after flying around rescuing people at night -- would be standing at dawn at Ground Zero. Sort of standing there, almost as if to say, 'If I had been here, this might not be.'"
After Lex Luthor and his gang steal the meteorite at the museum, a broken glass has the year 1978 written with the description of the meteorite; which was also the same year the first Superman came to theaters.
Dedicated to Christopher Reeve and Dana Reeve.
The last line of the fourth Superman movie (the one before "Returns") is Superman saying to Luthor, "See you in twenty." That scene was filmed in 1986. Eerily enough, twenty years later, in 2006, the next Superman movie was released.
There is a framed photograph of Glenn Ford (Jonathan Kent from the original "Superman") on the piano during the reunion scene at the Kent farm.
The space shuttle engineer was played by Richard Branson, the owner of The Virgin Group. The monitors inside the jet display the words "Virgin Galactic", the name of Branson's commercial spaceflight company that will utilize the SpaceshipOne crafts, which are launched from the underbelly of an airplane, much like the space shuttle in the film.
After Superman stops the airplane crash, he says to the passengers (including Lois Lane), "I hope this doesn't put any of you off flying. Statistically, it's still the safest way to travel." Superman said the same thing to Lois after rescuing her from the helicopter crash in the original 1978 Superman film.
Noel Neill plays Gertrude Vanderworth. She played Lois Lane in the 1950's TV series.
In one scene photographs of Superman rescuing a woman in a car are shown. The pictures are an homage to Action Comics. The shot of Superman holding the car above his head is a direct reference to the cover of Action Comics #1 from 1938 where Superman is seen for the first time.
When Lex and his henchman enter the museum in Metropolis, the two people that are already there (and they tell to leave) are actually Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, the screenwriters.
Hugh Laurie was cast first in the role of Perry White. However, the popularity of his TV show "House, M.D." (2004) caused schedule conflicts. Frank Langella was then cast.
Eva Marie Saint (Martha Kent) made her theatrical debut in On the Waterfront (1954), coincidentally opposite the late Marlon Brando (Jor-El).
This is the first film to use the Panavision Genesis HD camera. Developed jointly by Panavision and Sony, it was the latest of the specific 24p HD used by the likes of George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez, among others.
Contains 1,400 VFX shots
Brandon Routh put on 20 pounds of muscle for the movie.
Both Michael Bay and Robert Rodriguez were offered the director's position. Bay's counteroffer (including hefty back-end gross points) was rejected by the studio, while Rodriguez simply turned the offer down, citing that he didn't want his Superman "on the back of some kid's underpants."
All previous scripts revolved, in one way or another, around the death and subsequent return of Superman. Jonathan Lemkin wrote a draft in which Superman impregnates Lois before he dies, she gives birth soon thereafter (also dying in the process), and a fully-grown new Superman emerges to save the world. Lemkin's work was quickly discarded.
When Singer became interested in possibly hiring Routh, he arranged for them to meet in a coffee shop. When they met at their table, Routh stumbled and spilled hot coffee all over the table. Although he panicked, thinking he had just lost the part, Singer laughed and said it actually helped him get the part. The incident convinced Singer that Routh could pull off the clumsy, bumbling Clark Kent.
Promotional material was shipped to cinemas in the UK under the title "Red Sun".
Bryan Singer wanted Christopher Reeve to make a cameo appearance in the film but Reeve died before filming began. Singer then decided to dedicate the film to him.
Marlon Brando reprises his role as Jor el with some help from VFX. Rhythm & Hues took footage from the old Superman movie and hand-modeled and -animated a CG-replica of his face upon the footage. It was then textured and new mouth shapes was then animated onto the model.
The production of the film occupied seven sound stages and two workshops for eight months at Fox Studios, Sydney in 2005.
Workers constructed 7km of road and planted 15 hectares of corn to recreate the Kent farm. This is especially a difficult task in that the farm was created during a 7-year drought in Australia.
Milliskin, a type of cloth, was used as the material of Superman's suit. Unfortunately, this cloth restricts movement when new. Worse, it sags after being worn and becoming comfortable. As a result, 80 suits, 100 capes, 30 boots and 90 belts were made.
Lex Luthor says, "To the primitive mind, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," which is a paraphrase of an Arthur C. Clarke quote, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ("Profiles of the Future," 1961).
A sign in the plaza of the Daily Planet building reads, "Shuster Square." This is a reference to Joe Shuster, one of the co-creators of the original Superman character.
In an interview on "Larry King Live", director Bryan Singer said that had he not had access to John Williams' original music, he would not have done the film
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