The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may have grossed $700 million worldwide, but it's not being considered a runaway success over at Sony Pictures. In fact, the film fell quite short of the studio's expectations, and is the poorest-reviewed Spidey film to date (currently standing at a sad 53% on RottenTomatoes, 10% lower than the critically derided Spider-Man 3). This throws a wrench into Sony's longterm Spider-Man franchise plan, which includes at least two more Amazing Spider-Man sequels and villain-centric spin-offs focusing on Venom and the Sinister Six. According to Roberto Orci, Sony is currently scrambling to figure out what to do now to keep their most lucrative cash cow mooing, without running the risk of making the franchise crash and burn. He says that the studio is rethinking the order of the films and may in fact release Sinister Six before The Amazing Spider-Man 3 as originally planned. This would allow them to jump right into the villain-team-up, and spend a bit more time constructing the wall-crawler's next solo(ish) adventure. Many may take this news as a sign that the films are in trouble and that Spider-Man may soon wind up back at Marvel Studios. That's definitely not the case, as it's very unlikely that Sony will give up the rights to their only superhero any time soon (if ever). However, this may slow down their Spider-Man cinematic universe plans, as they've likely learned that maybe less is more when it comes to the one character they own the rights to. Additionally, Orci reports that he's no longer involved in The Amazing Spider-Man 3. He and his longtime producing partner, Alex Kurtzman, wrote The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and were on board to help shepherd the wider cinematic universe, but that appears to no longer be the case. Kurtzman is still on board as a producer and the writer/director of the Venom film, but Orci is moving on, and will likely focus on Star Trek 3 and his other slate of projects.
James is a 24 year old writer and filmmaker living in Portland, OR. He attended college for graphic design and writes for various sources on the web about film, television, and entertainment.
You can view all of his work on his website, www.thereeljames.wordpress.com
