Andrew Garfield will be battling evil foes in the upcoming “Spider-Man” franchise reboot, and the actor can now count on the original web-slinger, Tobey Maguire, to root him on.
“I’m really excited,” Tobey told Access Hollywood at the Sundance Film Festival when asked about the new Marc Webb-directed movie with Andrew and Emma Stone.
“I think Marc Webb is an exciting filmmaker, Andrew is a great actor,” Tobey, who is promoting his new movie “The Details,” said at the annual winter film festival. “I’ve been a fan of his. I saw ‘Boy A,’ which I loved, a bit ago… and, of course, ‘The Social Network.’”
Adding, “I’m a fan. I’m excited to see what they do.”
Garfield previously told Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush that the sight of himself in the iconic costume blew him away.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of excited by that!” Andrew said on the Golden Globes red carpet earlier this month when Access showed him a photo of himself in the red and blue suit. “It’s ridiculous and surreal… I’m really kind of humbled by it.”
The “Spider-Man” reboot is slated to swing into theaters in July 2012.
Showing posts with label Spider-Man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spider-Man. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
First Look: Andrew Garfield as 'Spider-Man'
The first official image of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man has been released, courtesy of Columbia Pictures.
Dark, disheveled, and skinny, is probably the best way to describe this first image of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. He's without the mask, which leaves us a little more to look forward to, and based on that scar, as well as the expression on his face, the iconic superhero has just been through one of the toughest battles of his young career as the webbed crusader.
He's got a backpack slung over his shoulder, which is there to remind us that this is the beginning -- this is Peter Parker in high school, dealing with these new powers and learning about being Spider-Man as he goes, finding it may not be all it's cracked up to be. He's weak; he doesn't 'get it' yet.
As far as the suit goes, it looks updated, but still familiar enough for fans. We like the lack of muscles and frenetic spider graphic on his chest, as if he has no clue what he is or what he's doing.
This comes as good news for Spider-Man fans as all is not well in the Spidey universe. The Wall Street Journal reports that the problem-plagued Broadway musical 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' has once again pushed back its opening night.
This is the fourth time the show has delayed its first official performance, now scheduled for March 15. The show's received a lot of negative attention, for bad reviews and the multiple sidelining injuries incurred by the actors and crew.
Dark, disheveled, and skinny, is probably the best way to describe this first image of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. He's without the mask, which leaves us a little more to look forward to, and based on that scar, as well as the expression on his face, the iconic superhero has just been through one of the toughest battles of his young career as the webbed crusader.
He's got a backpack slung over his shoulder, which is there to remind us that this is the beginning -- this is Peter Parker in high school, dealing with these new powers and learning about being Spider-Man as he goes, finding it may not be all it's cracked up to be. He's weak; he doesn't 'get it' yet.
As far as the suit goes, it looks updated, but still familiar enough for fans. We like the lack of muscles and frenetic spider graphic on his chest, as if he has no clue what he is or what he's doing.
This comes as good news for Spider-Man fans as all is not well in the Spidey universe. The Wall Street Journal reports that the problem-plagued Broadway musical 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' has once again pushed back its opening night.
This is the fourth time the show has delayed its first official performance, now scheduled for March 15. The show's received a lot of negative attention, for bad reviews and the multiple sidelining injuries incurred by the actors and crew.
'Spider-Man' Broadway Musical Delayed for Fourth Time
If your spidey senses were tingling Thursday night, you might head over to the Great White Way and lend a hand on set. The Wall Street Journal reports that the problem-plagued Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has once again pushed back its opening night.
This is the fourth time the show has delayed its first official performance, now scheduled for March 15. The show's received a lot of negative attention, for bad reviews and the multiple sidelining injuries incurred by the actors and crew.
A statement released by the show said they needed time to work on a new ending. Some theatergoers have been confused by what went down after intermission.
"We simply need more time to fully execute the creative team's vision before freezing the show," said lead producer Michael Cohl. He then reassured audiences this would be the "final postponent" of the show, which has been in an usually long preview period of more than 15 weeks.
Despite 'Spider-Man's' rather tumultuous start in theater, the clearly popular show was the number one musical on Broadway. I vote they keep working out those set kinks, brush off the critics and if at all possible, bring James Franco on board. Multi-talented Harry Osborn could undoubtedly weave a web of gold. .
This is the fourth time the show has delayed its first official performance, now scheduled for March 15. The show's received a lot of negative attention, for bad reviews and the multiple sidelining injuries incurred by the actors and crew.
A statement released by the show said they needed time to work on a new ending. Some theatergoers have been confused by what went down after intermission.
"We simply need more time to fully execute the creative team's vision before freezing the show," said lead producer Michael Cohl. He then reassured audiences this would be the "final postponent" of the show, which has been in an usually long preview period of more than 15 weeks.
Despite 'Spider-Man's' rather tumultuous start in theater, the clearly popular show was the number one musical on Broadway. I vote they keep working out those set kinks, brush off the critics and if at all possible, bring James Franco on board. Multi-talented Harry Osborn could undoubtedly weave a web of gold. .
Thursday, January 13, 2011
A Web of Confusion Over Theatre Previews for 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'
As if there weren’t enough new hot buttons being pressed by “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” the show has pushed a more familiar controversy back to the surface.
We speak of Broadway previews, a subject that rears its head every decade or so when the concept gets stretched beyond its original intention. Or when people forget what that was.
And here it is again. Last week, Bill de Blasio, the public advocate for New York City, spoke up against Broadway’s failure to tell customers when they are buying tickets for a preview — that is, a work in progress — and not the final version.
“Theatergoers deserve to know what they are buying,” he said in a statement to Newsday. “The industry must be forthright with its consumers. Make no mistake, there is a difference between a finished product and a preview performance that could be stopped at any time to iron out new material.”
And in a letter urging action by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, de Blasio was specific that, although the problem is widespread, the impetus for his concern is “Spider-Man,” which he believes “may be in violation of consumer-protection laws.”
With all the opinions, gossip and catastrophic injuries flying around the high-flying, $65-million mega-musical, it is understandable if people — especially people outside New York — believe that the show has been open since Nov. 28.
In fact, that was just the first preview, a public run-through that, in saner days, was a discounted trade-off between informed theatergoers and working artists. The much-delayed show does not officially open — that is, completed for professional reviews — until Feb. 7.
But nowhere on the show’s official website is there an indication that this much-anticipated collaboration between “Lion King” director Julie Taymor and rock royalty Bono and The Edge is still very much a work in progress. If you call Ticketmaster to buy a seat ($75-$150, premium seat $289), the helpful automated voice says nothing about the show still being in previews, nor does it mention the opening date. When national newscasts interviewed enthusiastic cast members last week, not a word was mentioned about the show still being rewritten, recomposed and restaged.
The only place the word “preview” appears is in the alphabetical theater classifieds, called the ABC’s, that appear in some newspapers.
“Spider-Man” is by no means the only example of this misleading consumer practice. Like almost everything else about this bigger-than-big attraction, however, it is the most public. With the enormous 1,900-seat capacity at the Foxwoods Theatre and the clamoring for tickets, it surely is the most lucrative.
Historically, the preview issue came to a boiling point in 1991 with “Nick and Nora,” a musical that played 71 performances without telling audiences they were paying opening-night prices to watch a preview. After the reviews finally came out, the show ran just nine more times.
Some of us in the press complained of what we saw as consumer fraud, which got the attention of Mark Green, then commissioner of the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs. He informed the League of American Theaters and Producers (now the Broadway League) that all future theater ads “must clearly disclose” when a play was in previews and when it would officially open.
Green originally wanted previews indicated in all ads and at the theater box offices.
He also wanted to impose a penalty, “including but not limited to fines of up to $500 per ad as well as restitution for aggrieved consumers.” In his letter, de Blasio said, “I believe the Department of Consumer Affairs is both within its rights — and obligated — to undertake similar measures today.”
I can’t find anyone who knows anyone who was ever fined. But when producers got lax about labeling their full-price previews in 2002, Betsy Gotbaum, then public advocate, was informed and, suddenly, the word reappeared on advertisements.
But Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League since 2006, denies there is any “industry mandate” at all. In a statement to Newsday, she said, “Each show has always developed their own individual marketing strategies.”
Producers can thank the stratospherically high profile of “Spider-Man” for shining lots of light on the slipping adherence to now-dated consumer guidelines.
Should the Department of Consumer Affairs and the league decide to revisit the problem, they will have to acknowledge that most tickets are now bought online or by phone. The idea of someone going to the box office and reading a display ad there seems pretty quaint. A random sampling of the websites of major upcoming shows (“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “Catch Me If You Can”) has nothing about previews. Shows begin “performances,” with none the wiser about the omitted opening date.
Compared to “Nick and Nora” or “Legs Diamond” (72 previews in 1989) or “Merlin” (69 in 1982), “Spider-Man” (between 65 and 70 by Feb. 7) is not a record breaker.
But 65 previews in a virtually sold-out house means that more than 120,000 people will have paid extraordinary prices without being warned they’ve bought practice sessions. If the average ticket price continues to be $121, as it was New Year’s week, that’s a gross of more than $14 million before the thing even opens.
Producers will remind us that many shows are too complicated to try out on the road. Tours are too expensive for most budgets, which means that work must be done in public in New York. This is hard, obviously, especially in an Internet age in which every blogger is a critic. Except for the Web, however, producers had the same complaints in 1991.
How, one wonders, does the Metropolitan Opera stage huge new productions (including Taymor’s 2004 “The Magic Flute”) with ever-more-complicated technology with just a dress rehearsal before opening? Granted, nobody flies over the audience. But how did the massive production of “Sweeney Todd” open as a masterpiece in 1979 after just 19 previews and no out-of-town tryout?
Closer to home, Taymor revealed the full glory of “The Lion King” with just 33 previews here in 1997. There is no precedent to indicate that a musical — even one with flying — improves in proportion to the number of previews. There is, however, a precedent for making sure they are labeled as such.
We speak of Broadway previews, a subject that rears its head every decade or so when the concept gets stretched beyond its original intention. Or when people forget what that was.
And here it is again. Last week, Bill de Blasio, the public advocate for New York City, spoke up against Broadway’s failure to tell customers when they are buying tickets for a preview — that is, a work in progress — and not the final version.
“Theatergoers deserve to know what they are buying,” he said in a statement to Newsday. “The industry must be forthright with its consumers. Make no mistake, there is a difference between a finished product and a preview performance that could be stopped at any time to iron out new material.”
And in a letter urging action by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, de Blasio was specific that, although the problem is widespread, the impetus for his concern is “Spider-Man,” which he believes “may be in violation of consumer-protection laws.”
With all the opinions, gossip and catastrophic injuries flying around the high-flying, $65-million mega-musical, it is understandable if people — especially people outside New York — believe that the show has been open since Nov. 28.
In fact, that was just the first preview, a public run-through that, in saner days, was a discounted trade-off between informed theatergoers and working artists. The much-delayed show does not officially open — that is, completed for professional reviews — until Feb. 7.
But nowhere on the show’s official website is there an indication that this much-anticipated collaboration between “Lion King” director Julie Taymor and rock royalty Bono and The Edge is still very much a work in progress. If you call Ticketmaster to buy a seat ($75-$150, premium seat $289), the helpful automated voice says nothing about the show still being in previews, nor does it mention the opening date. When national newscasts interviewed enthusiastic cast members last week, not a word was mentioned about the show still being rewritten, recomposed and restaged.
The only place the word “preview” appears is in the alphabetical theater classifieds, called the ABC’s, that appear in some newspapers.
“Spider-Man” is by no means the only example of this misleading consumer practice. Like almost everything else about this bigger-than-big attraction, however, it is the most public. With the enormous 1,900-seat capacity at the Foxwoods Theatre and the clamoring for tickets, it surely is the most lucrative.
Historically, the preview issue came to a boiling point in 1991 with “Nick and Nora,” a musical that played 71 performances without telling audiences they were paying opening-night prices to watch a preview. After the reviews finally came out, the show ran just nine more times.
Some of us in the press complained of what we saw as consumer fraud, which got the attention of Mark Green, then commissioner of the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs. He informed the League of American Theaters and Producers (now the Broadway League) that all future theater ads “must clearly disclose” when a play was in previews and when it would officially open.
Green originally wanted previews indicated in all ads and at the theater box offices.
He also wanted to impose a penalty, “including but not limited to fines of up to $500 per ad as well as restitution for aggrieved consumers.” In his letter, de Blasio said, “I believe the Department of Consumer Affairs is both within its rights — and obligated — to undertake similar measures today.”
I can’t find anyone who knows anyone who was ever fined. But when producers got lax about labeling their full-price previews in 2002, Betsy Gotbaum, then public advocate, was informed and, suddenly, the word reappeared on advertisements.
But Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League since 2006, denies there is any “industry mandate” at all. In a statement to Newsday, she said, “Each show has always developed their own individual marketing strategies.”
Producers can thank the stratospherically high profile of “Spider-Man” for shining lots of light on the slipping adherence to now-dated consumer guidelines.
Should the Department of Consumer Affairs and the league decide to revisit the problem, they will have to acknowledge that most tickets are now bought online or by phone. The idea of someone going to the box office and reading a display ad there seems pretty quaint. A random sampling of the websites of major upcoming shows (“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “Catch Me If You Can”) has nothing about previews. Shows begin “performances,” with none the wiser about the omitted opening date.
Compared to “Nick and Nora” or “Legs Diamond” (72 previews in 1989) or “Merlin” (69 in 1982), “Spider-Man” (between 65 and 70 by Feb. 7) is not a record breaker.
But 65 previews in a virtually sold-out house means that more than 120,000 people will have paid extraordinary prices without being warned they’ve bought practice sessions. If the average ticket price continues to be $121, as it was New Year’s week, that’s a gross of more than $14 million before the thing even opens.
Producers will remind us that many shows are too complicated to try out on the road. Tours are too expensive for most budgets, which means that work must be done in public in New York. This is hard, obviously, especially in an Internet age in which every blogger is a critic. Except for the Web, however, producers had the same complaints in 1991.
How, one wonders, does the Metropolitan Opera stage huge new productions (including Taymor’s 2004 “The Magic Flute”) with ever-more-complicated technology with just a dress rehearsal before opening? Granted, nobody flies over the audience. But how did the massive production of “Sweeney Todd” open as a masterpiece in 1979 after just 19 previews and no out-of-town tryout?
Closer to home, Taymor revealed the full glory of “The Lion King” with just 33 previews here in 1997. There is no precedent to indicate that a musical — even one with flying — improves in proportion to the number of previews. There is, however, a precedent for making sure they are labeled as such.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
'Spider-Man' Becomes Broadway's No. 1 Musical
'Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark' has become a bit of a punch-line over the last month or so, but the latest news about the Broadway adaptation of the popular Marvel comic will have Julie Taymor and her producers laughing – all the way to the bank.
The New York Times is reporting that the upstart production, plagued by bad press since a rash of accidents left several actors and crew injured, has knocked 'Wicked' from the top of its Broadway box-office perch last week, but just barely. The web-slinger edged out the revised take on 'The Wizard of Oz' by a whopping $58.
The margin might have been bigger – 'Wicked's' 1.5 million haul was based on 100% of the audience paying for tickets, while Spidey's numbers didn't factor in all the free and reduced price seats they were offering patrons while it continues its preview period. 'Wicked' had an average paid admission of $109.76, while 'Spider-Man' was slightly less at $102.86.
Could this be a portent of things to come? 'Wicked' has been one of the highest earning shows on Broadway since it debuted back in 2003, while 'Spider-Man' won't officially open until February 7th (after nearly a year of delays). The battle could be quite interesting – as 'Spider-Man' plays in a slightly larger theater (The Foxwood Theater) and boasts the name recognition of director Taymor (who helmed the stage version of 'The Lion King') and music from U2's Bono and The Edge.
However, as The Times mentions, the 'Wicked' team has more experience in figuring out how to sell the most seats at premium ($300 a pop) prices – which should keep its grosses in the stratosphere for the foreseeable future. Plus, 'Wicked' hasn't shown any signs of waning popularity even after a seven year run. It's a proven commodity.
Either way, it seems safe to say that the executives behind 'Spider-Man' have to be breathing a sigh of relief. After weeks of bad news, edging out a popular production like 'Wicked' is definitely something to crow about. Sony Films executives have to be pleased as well – as negative publicity for the musical could have a trickle down effect that compromises the earning ability of the new 'Spider-Man' movie, which is set to reboot the franchise.
The New York Times is reporting that the upstart production, plagued by bad press since a rash of accidents left several actors and crew injured, has knocked 'Wicked' from the top of its Broadway box-office perch last week, but just barely. The web-slinger edged out the revised take on 'The Wizard of Oz' by a whopping $58.
The margin might have been bigger – 'Wicked's' 1.5 million haul was based on 100% of the audience paying for tickets, while Spidey's numbers didn't factor in all the free and reduced price seats they were offering patrons while it continues its preview period. 'Wicked' had an average paid admission of $109.76, while 'Spider-Man' was slightly less at $102.86.
Could this be a portent of things to come? 'Wicked' has been one of the highest earning shows on Broadway since it debuted back in 2003, while 'Spider-Man' won't officially open until February 7th (after nearly a year of delays). The battle could be quite interesting – as 'Spider-Man' plays in a slightly larger theater (The Foxwood Theater) and boasts the name recognition of director Taymor (who helmed the stage version of 'The Lion King') and music from U2's Bono and The Edge.
However, as The Times mentions, the 'Wicked' team has more experience in figuring out how to sell the most seats at premium ($300 a pop) prices – which should keep its grosses in the stratosphere for the foreseeable future. Plus, 'Wicked' hasn't shown any signs of waning popularity even after a seven year run. It's a proven commodity.
Either way, it seems safe to say that the executives behind 'Spider-Man' have to be breathing a sigh of relief. After weeks of bad news, edging out a popular production like 'Wicked' is definitely something to crow about. Sony Films executives have to be pleased as well – as negative publicity for the musical could have a trickle down effect that compromises the earning ability of the new 'Spider-Man' movie, which is set to reboot the franchise.
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