Sci-Fi Storm

The troubled Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark may stay in the dark for a few more months, as anonymous sources report an approximately three month delay in the opening – which is currently scheduled for next Tuesday. This could partly be to find a new director, as it was earlier reported that producers have been in talks with Julie Taymor about leaving the production.

The production has been plagued by problems due to the high-risk stunts and equipment issues, with several actors receiving serious injuries.

Updated 3/10: Looks like Taymor is out as director, but will still be involved, after the producers officially announced the delay to allow the time necessary to execute the plan, which will include revisions to the script,” according to the statement. The official opening date was not given, just “early summer”.

Here is a neat article from Moviefone that shows some screen tests for some famous roles – some of which got the part (Henry Thomas had the role of E.T. before it was over), a couple who didn’t (I’ve mentioned before that Han Solo could have been played by Kurt Russell instead of Harrison Ford).

Sony has its Peter Parker for the reboot of their Spider-Man franchise – Andrew Garfield (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) has been named for the role after having been named to a short list a month ago. Production is expected to start in December, with the film set to be released 2 years from today on July 3rd, 2012.

After Spider-Man 4 slipped in its release schedule due to an apparent impasse over the script and characters, Sony/Columbia have decided to jettison plans, along with Raimi and the cast, and instead go with a reboot of the franchise based on a script by James Vanderbilt, and getting back to the superpowers vs. teen angst angle. But if they already have the script, how long has the studio been planning this?

With Sam Raimi and Sony at an impasse over the villains for Spider-Man 4, the web-slinger lost his grip on the planned release date of May 6th, 2011 – and comic competition Thor from Paramount is the apparent heir to the date.