Last week Roberto Orci took part in an interview with IGN and in the course of that interview revealed that he was no longer involved in writing The Amazing Spider-Man 3 or whatever it will end up being called. Orci also implied in his comments that the future of the once promising franchise is in a bit of limbo right now. Here is the actual comment by Orci:
I don't know what their plans are for that franchise. I don't ever want to say never, but we have to figure out what their scheduling is in terms of when they want each movie. I've read probably as much as anyone else. There's a love for the Sinister Six, the idea of Venom -- there's an idea of Spider-Man's going to be one of these characters that's part of our business. He's such a popular character. Spider-Man's not going to go away any time soon. When it all happens and how and all that has yet to be determined.
There is alot to parse out of this quote I think. First there is the obvious fact that Orci is no longer writing ASM3 or involved in the overall plans for the character going into the future. We could assume, second, that Orci would have some inside knowledge of what is happening with the franchise considering his former writing partner, Alex Kurtzman, is the one responsible for writing and directing a stand alone Venom film for Sony. Now with that said, Kurtzman may not know what is happening with the franchise's future either. But it is safe to assume. What this all means is that in the halls of Sony there is some uncertainty about where they go from here.
It is good news I think for the franchise to have Orci no longer involved. I have never been a particularly big fan of him and still don't understand, based on his past work, why he seems to always land these high profile projects. Except of course for the fact that he will do whatever the studio wants with the script. I am sure having a yes man on projects like this is a preferred situation for the suits at any studio. But as can be seen with the critical backlash and unperformance at the box office of Orci's last two projects, Star Trek Into Darkness and Amazing Spider-Man 2, it is obvious that method does not produce films of any real quality or lasting popularity.
Obviously, Spider-Man will continue on film. Putting the whole Marvel rights issue aside, Spider-Man is still profitable to Sony. True, ASM2 was not the global juggernaut that Sony had hoped for. But the power of Spider-Man does not only reside in the global box office. His earning power really resides in merchandising. Spider-Man can be found on cereal boxes, pizza boxes, fast food happy meals, toy store shelves, and commercials for cell phone companies, and automobile manufacturers. That is where Spider-Man can earn Sony the real money and is why you won't see Sony stop making Spider-Man films. Sorry Marvel fans, the rights will never revert back to Marvel anytime in the near future.
With future Spider-Man films coming, just what can Sony do to restore this franchise to its former glory? Can it be saved? And if so, does it involve another scrapping of what they have done to this point and rebooting it all again?
