Hot on the tails of the news that Marvel Studios and Disney had announced the dates of two upcoming and unannounced films, Sony sends out their own press release doing the same thing for their current Spider-Man franchise.
According to Deadline, Chairman of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures Jeff Blake announced this week that the studio is in a position to plant their flag on two dates for additional sequels to Marc Webb’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’: June 10, 2016 and May 4, 2018. The executive had this to say about locking down the dates so far in advance:
“Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years.”
While many assumed that there would be at least one more film after ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’, no one has really started talking about anything beyond that. But seeing as the studio probably doesn’t want to give any indication that rights could be reverting back to Marvel any time soon, so they though it best to mark their territory now while they can.
Speaking of territory, Marvel has traditionally released their biggest films during the first weekend of May. Is Sony looking to claim that spot as their own or are they willing to go head to head with whatever the House of Ideas rolls out in 2018 for (presumably) their Phase Four? There’s a lot of time to think about it between now and then so we’ll see how it all plays out.
The announcement makes no mention of who would be returning in terms of cast and crew for the two films, but chances are Andrew Garfield is at least a lock. Ideally, Webb would return to direct alongside Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner, who scripted the first two in the series, but you never know what Hollywood could throw at these filmmakers to put a wrench in those ideal plans.
What do you think about Sony announcing two more installments of the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ franchise this far out? Do you think that they’ll be able to compete with Marvel in 2018 or do you think that they’ll end up pushing that release date? And what do you think will happen in a fourth adventure for the current Spidey? The third could quite obviously be the Sinister Six, but what of movie number four? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Shailene Woodley, Dane DeHaan, Chris Cooper, Paul Giamatti, and Sally Field is set to hit theaters in 3D on May 2, 2014.
