14 DAY TRIAL // Warner Bros.’ Justice League franchise, the direct rival to Marvel’s Avengers, got off to a shaky start, with some fans still to be convinced that it has any legs. They will wait for “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice” to make up their mind on that.
If you think Warners has it rough, don’t even get us started on Sony. Their attempt at rebooting the Spider-Man franchise with “The Amazing Spider-Man” wasn’t as successful as expected. Ticket sales were underwhelming, and until a few hours ago, there was serious talk that Sony would only make the third film and then ditch all plans for “Sinister Six” and “Venom” spinoff movies.
As it turns out, Sony still believes in Spidey and in their ability to forge an entire superhero universe around him. On the opening day at San Diego Comic-Con 2014, the studio announced the release date for “Sinister Six” and revealed that they would be pushing the third Spider-Man movie back by at least a couple of years.
Confirmation of the news comes from Variety, which says that, this way, by releasing a spinoff before the final installment in the Spider-Man trilogy, Sony will be able to expand the universe and make it more appealing to fans.
It’s not that Spider-Man is boring or anything that’s the problem. The first 2 films with Andrew Garfield were a hit with critics and some fans, but failed to catch on with the broader audience, and last but not least, paled in comparison to Sam Raimi’s original trilogy.
The problem with this current iteration of Spider-Man seems to be exclusively one of timing, because many fans found that the reboot came too soon after Sam Raimi’s version. A decade isn’t long enough to reboot a franchise, they believe: so they gave this Spider-Man zero chances.
With this new announcement, Sony is releasing the third film in 2018, at a date to be announced – that is to say, far enough into the future to allow these fans the time needed to forget about Sam Raimi’s Spidey and give theirs a chance.
Meanwhile, “Sinister Six” has been moved into the spot allotted to the third film and will be out on November 11, 2016. Sony is yet to say anything about “Venom,” but Comic-Con is just getting started so, if they do have an announcement to make, there’s plenty of time for it.
“Sinister Six” has Drew Goddard handling the script and in talks to direct. Variety says Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing.
“With ‘Sinister Six’ in the hands of writer-director Drew Goddard, we feel extremely confident placing the film on a prime date in 2016,” Doug Belgrad, president, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, said in the announcement.
A first glimpse at Sinister Six was included at the end of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which came out this year. The group first appeared in the comics in 1964 and includes Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Sandman, and the Vulture.