Back in January we learned that plans for Spider-Man IV had been canned because the studio decided that it would be too expensive to pay all the inflated salaries of the franchise’s principal actors — Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst — and original director Sam Raimi. The studio soon thereafter decided to reboot the entire franchise and make a new set of films with an entirely different, younger and cheaper cast and director. In April it was announced that director Marc Webb had been hired to direct the new Spider-Man films and just yesterday it was announced that British actor Andrew Garfield has been cast to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man:
Sony Pictures has found its new Peter Parker: British heartthrob Andrew Garfield. The studio announced Thursday afternoon that it had cast the 26-year-old star of the upcoming “Never Let Me Go” and “The Social Network” in one of the most closely scrutinized casting decisions in recent Hollywood history. Garfield also starred in “Lions for Lambs,” “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” and the acclaimed British miniseries “Red Riding.” The fourth film in the series is planned to be a “Spider-Man” origin story that Sony earlier in the year said would focus on “a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises.” Sony, worried that a fourth film with original director Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire would be too costly, decided to scale back and reboot the series. The studio hired Marc Webb, the director of “(500) Days of Summer,” to helm the project. It is due in theaters July 12, 2012. “From the first time we saw him in the upcoming film ‘The Social Network,’ to his glorious screen test, which floored all of us, we knew that we had found our new Peter Parker,” Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures, said in a statement. Among those said to be considered for the part were Josh Hutcherson (“The Kids are All Right”), Aaron Johnson (“Kick-Ass”), Anton Yelchin (“Star Trek”) and Jamie Bell (“Billy Elliot”).
I have never seen Garfield in any of his films/TV shows but I do hear he was fantastic in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and I am very interested in seeing his performance in The Social Network (which just yesterday became a must-see film for me). While I think he will make a great Spider-Man, I really think it is FAR too soon for Sony Pictures to be making a new set of Spider-Man films. It’s possible these new films will be as successful as the first films but does the world really need an entirely new Spider-Man franchise already? I wish Andrew Garfield all the luck in the world … I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. I know I’m not all the excited for new Spider-Man films, are you?
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Boo :/ This kind of came out of nowhere for me, I knew Josh Hutcherson was up for the part and I was really hoping he’d get it. Hes 17 and has the innocent peter parker look, this guy is 27! thats just kind of rediculous to me. and they are just going to run into the same problem where hes going to be 30 playing a college student or worse if they start him earlier in high school.
Hmmn I think this is a good choice, but Anton Yelchin would have made a really interesting Peter Parker, IMO.
LOVE HIM. He’s going to be in the upcoming “Never Let Me Go” so you should try and catch him in that! It’s based on the book which I thought was really great, and it’ll give you a chance to see him work.
He was excellent in Doctor Who. Excited for the re-boot =)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This is SO, SO lame… Logan Lerman should have been it but then again this whole film looks like a HUGE potential flop. WTF.
Are they insane? Peter Parker can only be played by someone like Ryan Reynolds.
The last spiderman movies were horrible, because of toby and kirsten, mary jane is not a lolli-pop stick, she’s got curves up the wazoo. That said the other actors were very good.
I hate what they are doing to spidey, but whatchoo gonna do, it’s all about the money.
@chase, Really Logan Lerman? that kid is such a horrible actor. With Garfield, you have one of the best young talents in the acting world. He won a Bafta 2 years ago for Boy A, and has actual critical acclaim from a lot of the worlds top critics.
@ A.J. Dont forget that Cory Montieth (horrendous actor btw) is 25 and plays a high schooler. Andrew just need to cut the hair and shave, he still looks young for his age.
the only other actor that could pull this off would be Jaime Bell. I dont agree with Yelchin, because his voice isnt as malleable as Garfield and bell.
Trent you should rent ‘Boy A’. He is fantastic in it.
That’s really too bad. Tobey Maguire wasn’t perfect but he had that geeky yet hot thing going on that worked. This guy is just unattractive and boring looking. I’ll be passing on this movie.