The Spider-Man movie that wasn't...

[Earth 2 Chris]

Some interesting info on Cannon's aborted late 80s Spidey flick, including some really cool promo pics of an actor with some Spidey street cred...

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/03/08/comic-book-legends-revealed-409/

The above pic was based on a Ditko piece from the first Spider-Man Annual, I believe. There is a real nice custom based on it by Vinny here:

http://megomuseum.com/community/showthread.php?84048-Composite-Peter-Parker-SpiderMan

Chris

[Figuremod73]

So this is the Cameron Spiderman film I use to hear about.....Could have been neat but it sounds like it was all over the place. Could Hollywood be more complicated?

The guy in the photo at least looks like Peter to me.

hmmm.....wasnt there a Silver Surfer film planned in the early eighties? I remember that from Bullpen bulletin or it could have been Stan rambling hype on one of his articles from back in the day.

[Bruce Banner]

Would have been an interesting movie if they'd made it... just to see how they'd have handled the character.
No doubt it would have been a typically low to mid-budget Cannon affair, but interesting nonetheless.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Tobe Hooper's connection is interesting, considering Sam Raimi started out making odd, low budget horror films as well!

Chris

[Figuremod73]

I wish it had been made to if for nothing eles than just to have had an Spiderman movie in the eighties. Who know, maybe it could have been what Batman in '89 became.

I would have loved seeing how they handled the special effects. I like the old Fantastic 4 movie just because I think the effects are fun.

[Earth 2 Chris]

The costume Marvel used for mall appearances would more than likely been what Peter Parker could have sewn himself...if he was an expert seamstress!!! I would have had no problem seeing it (or one similar to Nicholas Hammond's) on the big screen. Just put lenses in the eyes.

Chris

[Bruce Banner]

The saga of the Spider-Man film is a fascinating and convoluted one indeed.
Some of Cameron's rather underhanded tactics are particularly interesting...

Cameron would not get his million dollar writer’s fee unless he delivered a full screenplay to Carolco “…

Cameron did a marvelously expedient thing. He simply had the top sheet of the existing script retyped and added his name to the list of writers. The script cover now said “Screenplay by Ted Newson [sic], Barry [sic] Cohen and James Cameron” and underneath that, “… and John Brancato, Joseph Goldmari [sic] and James Cameron”– the misspelled names juggled cleverly so it appeared the cinema genius had gone through two complete sets of writers to create his masterwork (none of us ever even met Cameron, much less wrote with him.).

Months after that, Cameron (or more likely, a writer pal working for him in anonymity) delivered his “scriptment,” a 40 page story which cobbled assorted bits from every previous draft, particularly ours, Frank LaLoggia’s, Ethan Wiley’s, and as far back as Leslie Stevens.

Sony/Columbia cautiously exercised the option on only what was termed “the Cameron material,” described explicitly as a 40 page treatment by James Cameron and a 115 page screenplay credited to “Ted Newsom, John Brancato, Barney Cohen, Joseph Goldman and James Cameron.” In other words, Columbia [in theory] never received copies of all the interim drafts, just those two items. I’d guess they figured the Cameron treatment came first, out of which the screenplay was expanded, which is the usual and logical procedure. In this case, it was backward.

Some pages from Cameron's supposed treatment can be viewed here:

http://membres.multimania.fr/mogwai/scenarios/spider-man.txt

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I could be wrong, but Cameron has always come across as somewhat of a shifty, arrogant type. This doesn't surprise me.

That "Year of Cannon" poster should have been subtitled "In space, no one can hear you thwip..."

Chris

[Figuremod73]

The funny thing is if Cameron had taken the property seriously he could have taken part on a gold mine.

[Hector]

Cameron has a bigger gold mine, they are called Titanic and Avatar, lol.

[Figuremod73]

Cameron has a bigger gold mine, they are called Titanic and Avatar, lol.

Good point. He could have stamped executive producer on it though

[hedrap]

Wow. That explains some of the few blank spots.

I followed Marvel film development since the mid-80's, when guys like Wes Craven were supposed to direct Dr. Strange.

I could never figure out the disconnect between Cameron's Spidey "script" and his treatment, as the script did not feel like his style. This answers that.

He had Ahnuld on board for Doc Ock, then at some point, the villains became Sandman and Kingpin, then Electro got thrown into the mix. I don't remember if that happened under Cameron or when Mamet wrote his draft.

Raimi's first Spidey still has traces of the Carolco/Cameron Spidey in it, such as the organic web shooters. Raimi was against the idea, but Sony wanted it kept it in because it was Cameron's idea, and he was a genius because of Titanic. That was the logic. Swear.

Raimi made the villain Goblin, but David Koepp did the big re-write, which was to simply rehash Batman '89 scenes and themes.

The fact Spidey worked so well is pure testament to Raimi.