Sony spins Spidey tale
Raimi tries to soothe comic book fans' concerns
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'Spider-Man's' Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe at a press conference. |
But Willem Dafoe wants boy dead, because Dafoe is crazy mad and has bad green skin.
If this all sounds vaguely familiar, it should. It's the plot of "Spider-Man," the movie, which is coming to theaters in about a year and a half, after they actually make it.
But the filmmakers and Sony Pictures would like auds to start getting excited now, and they also wish to reassure comic book fans that they are being extremely careful.
"I'm not trying to put my mark on 'Spider-Man,' " helmer Sam Raimi assured reporters at a giant press conference on the Sony Pictures lot. "I'm just trying to bring 'Spider-Man' to the screen.
"The audience has a great deal of expectations already in mind," he said. "They know what Peter Parker looks like, what he sounds like, how he acts."
Raimi also confessed to being "terrified" at the logistical problems presented by the film, which requires that the lead character swing from one New York skyscraper to another at high speeds, suspended only by webs, climb walls and otherwise do things that most ordinary people cannot.
Maguire, who has become one of Hollywood's hottest young stars after "The Cider House Rules" and "Wonder Boys," has been training since July to give himself the look and "acrobatic grace" required for the part.
"I never thought I would be wearing a skin-tight suit day in and day out for such a long period of time, but that's what's great about life," he said. "('Spider-Man') is something you play as a child. I'm 25 and still playing in the back yard."
Dafoe was eager to play the villain as a three-dimensional character with a pronounced dark side.
"I didn't even read the script. Sam talked me through it and I liked the way he talked about it in such incredible psychological terms," Dafoe said. "It was really very rich."
Dunst said she was excited at to be working with Maguire and playing a different kind of character. "My goal is always to stay a moving target so no one can ever put a finger on me," she said. "Besides, I'm playing the love of 'Spider-Man's' life. How cool is that?"
