The MCU’s “Spider-Man 4,” the follow-up to 2021’s mega successful “No Way Home,” is supposed to begin production this fall, in late September. However, Sony still doesn’t have a director attached for this one.
Jon Watts, who helmed the first three Spideys, has graduated to making films with George Clooney and Brad Pitt (“Wolfs” and “Wolves”). He’s not coming back, but he recently had some peculiar advice for whoever decides to hop onboard this next Spidey flick.
For months, Justin Lin was one of the names said to be in contention, but he’s now directing another project, MGM/Amazon’s “Stakehorse”. He’s out of the running. Another rumored name was Drew Goddard (“Cabin in the Woods”), touted as another contender since January, but he’s now heavily involved in helming the next ‘Matrix’ film for Warner Bros.
I had previously reported that some of the names Sony were considering included John Francis Daley/ Jonathan Goldstein, Sam Raimi, and James Wan.
Earlier in the week, Adam Wingard’s name popped up online, kickstarted by dubious scooper MyTimeToShineHello. I never believed the rumor, Wingard is in the middle of pre-production for his upcoming thriller “Onslaught.” Also, don’t count on Wingard to make another franchise film so soon, especially after just coming off two ‘Godzilla’ movies.
Recently, a directing duo emerged as another possible contender to direct ‘Spider-Man 4.’ Last week, rumors started sparking online that directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were in the running for the gig, with Fallah giving a no-comment response when asked which only enhanced speculation.
Arbi and Fallah are set to release “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” soon, and that one’s coming off their completed “Batgirl” having been scrapped by Warner Bros. Who knows if these rumors are true, but the duo has just denied being approached for the gig.
All of the names mentioned are not that exciting, except for Raimi’s. Wouldn’t it be great if Raimi gets the gig? 2004’s “Spider-Man 2” is known as not only the best Spider-Man movie, but also one of the best comic book movies ever made. He’s also way more of an auteur than the others as his filmography includes strong films like “Evil Dead,” “Darkman,” “A Simple Plan,” and “Drag Me To Hell.”
Tom Holland and Zendaya are set to return in their respective roles for “Spider-Man 4”. There’s still no release date set up for the film— possibly late 2025? The last instalment (“Spider-Man: No Way Home”) grossed a whopping $1,9 billion worldwide despite being released in 2021 during the pandemic.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.