True Story Of The 8 Best Spider-Man Movies Never Made

In 1993, Variety reported that Aliens and Terminator 2 director James Cameron had turned in a script for a live-action Spider-Man movie, which was then in pre-production at Carolco Pictures, the company behind the early Rambo films.

"This is going to be as big as the 'Batman' movie", said inside sources. Considering how famous and talented Cameron was, there was naturally a lot of excitement surrounding his Spider-Man project, which he was also in line to direct. Carolco was setting up a "sizable budget package", and everything seemed to be going well.

The movie would've had Spidey facing off against Electro, and Cameron wanted the whole thing to be surprisingly mature. It was littered with profanity, and also included a scene where Peter ties Mary Jane down on the Brooklyn Bridge, and has sex with her. In addition, Peter had organic web shooters, and there was even a role for Sandman.

Considering Cameron's track record, it could've been great, but unfortunately, Spider-Man's movie prospects devolved into a web of messy legal issues from here onwards.

Aforementioned Cannon boss Golan sued Carolco, then Carolco sued Columbia and Viacom (who owned the home video and television rights, respectively, to the unmade Spider-Man film) only to be counter-sued. Fox then joined in the fun, claiming that they were exclusively entitled to Cameron's directorial services under a prior contract.

It was a right old jumble, and eventually - after suffering through box-office bombs like 1995's Cutthroat Island - Carolco went bankrupt and was forced to sell off its assets.