Daily Archives: May 7, 2012

Yesterday, former Biff Bam Pop box office expert Scotty G returned to the site to run down what films will be hitting theatres this May and June. Up next, what’s to come in July and August along with Scotty’s final thoughts on which films will be the winners and losers of the summer of 2012. 

July 3^rd – The Amazing Spider-Man

This is another highly anticipated film, and it is also another re-boot of a franchise.  Andrew Garfield takes over from Tobey Maguire as the title character and we once again get a film about the origins of Peter Parker and Spider-Man.  When the trailer first got released, co-workers of mine did not like the dark tone that was on display, and thought it was trying too hard to be like Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman character.  I disagree as I think this is a smart move by director Marc Webb (best known for directing 500 Days of Summer).  Distance yourself from the original trilogy as much as possible.  Make something that is unique and your own.  How this film does will be of interest to me, and I have my doubts about it attaining the levels of the original trilogy.  The first Spider-Man was a once-in-a-lifetime film, and it was for my generation a film that was awe-inspiring.  We believed a man could fly in the 70’s when Superman hit theatres, and in 2002, we believed a man could swing from buildings with his spider webs.  The second film was the best reviewed film in the franchise, scoring a 93% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and was considered to be an improvement on the original, even if it did not gross as much.  The third film had a ton of hype going into it, but the last hour of the film alienated fans, causing Spider-Man 3 to have the lowest box office total in the trilogy.  See below: 

2002 – Spider-Man - $403.7 million domestic gross
2004 – Spider-Man 2 - $373.5 million domestic gross
2007 – Spider-Man 3 - $336.5 million domestic gross

Average Domestic Gross – $371.2 million

I hold Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy in very high regard, but I think it was the right decision to inject new life into the character by rebooting it.  The question I have is how to get audiences interested in the character again?  Well for one, the casting has me interested.  On paper, the producers have assembled a great cast lead by Andrew Garfield as well as Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field and Campbell Scott.  They have also changed the back story of Peter Parker to be a little different than the one that is used in the Raimi trilogy.  The plot of The Amazing Spider-Man revolves around Peter Parker teaming up with his father’s old partner, Dr. Curt Connors, which leads to secrets about Peter’s past as well as the birth of a new enemy.  The release date for the film shows how much faith the studio has in it, and I think The Amazing Spider-Man will rule the multiplexes for a couple of weeks, until The Dark Knight Rises is released.  I think the film will be third highest grossing film of the summer, and with any luck, it will gross around what Spider-Man 3 had. 

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