Spiderman 3: The Movie

Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Spider-Man film franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, and Topher Grace.

The film begins with Peter Parker basking in his success as Spider-Man, while Mary Jane Watson begins her Broadway career. Harry Osborn still seeks vengeance for his father's death, and an escaped convict, Flint Marko, falls into a particle accelerator and is transformed into a shape shifting sand monster. An alien symbiote crashes to Earth and bonds with Peter, influencing his behavior for the worse. When the symbiote is abandoned, it finds refuge in Eddie Brock Jr., a rival photographer, causing Peter to face his greatest challenge.

Spider-Man 3 was commercially released in multiple countries on May 1, 2007, and released in the United States in both conventional and IMAX theaters on May 4, 2007. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics, in stark contrast to Spider-Man 2's highly positive reviews, yet the film broke most of the opening weekend records, both in the United States, and in foreign markets, including records held in IMAX theaters.

Plot

Peter has begun to feel secure in his life and plans to propose to Mary Jane. One night in a park, while Peter and Mary Jane are on a date, a small meteorite crashes nearby, and an alien symbiote oozes out, attaching itself to Peter's moped. Meanwhile, escaped convict Flint Marko falls into a particle accelerator which transforms him into a shape shifting sand manipulator. Peter's best friend, Harry Osborn, who seeks vengeance for his father's death, which he believes Peter caused, attacks him. The battle leaves Harry with short-term amnesia, making him forget his vendetta.

Harry Osborn chases Peter

Later, during a festival honoring Spider-Man for saving Gwen Stacy’s life, Marko attempts to rob an armored car, and overpowers Spider-Man. Captain Stacy later informs Peter and Aunt May that Marko is the one who killed Ben Parker, and a vengeful Peter waits for Marko to strike again. The symbiote bonds with his costume while he is asleep; Peter discovers that not only has his costume changed, but his powers have been enhanced as well. The black suit also alters Peter's personality, making him more violent, exemplified by a near lethal attack on Marko during a battle underground.

Affected by the suit, Peter exposes and humiliates Eddie Brock Jr., a rival photographer at the Daily Bugle, who sells fake pictures of Spider-Man. The shift in Peter's personality alienates Mary Jane, whose stage career is floundering, and she finds solace in Harry. Harry then recovers from his amnesia and threatens to kill Peter unless MJ breaks up with him. After Mary Jane leaves Peter, stating she is in love with another man, Harry meets him at a restaurant and claims to be the other man. Later, Peter finds him at the Osborn mansion. With the help of the black suit, Peter is victorious in a brutal fight, which leaves Harry's face disfigured.

In an effort to make MJ jealous, Peter brings Gwen to the nightclub where Mary Jane works and gets into a fight. In the scuffle, he accidentally knocks MJ to the floor. Peter realizes the symbiote-suit is changing him for the worse. He runs out of the nightclub and goes to a church bell tower to be rid of it. Initially he is unable to pull the suit off, but the sound waves from the church bells weaken the symbiote, freeing Peter. Eddie Brock is at the same church, praying for Peter’s death, and the symbiote falls from the tower and takes over his body. The newly powered Eddie finds Marko and suggests that they join forces to destroy Spider-Man.

Eddie reveals himself to Spider-Man

The pair use Mary Jane as bait to force Spider-Man to confront them. Peter approaches Harry for help, but is turned down and leaves. However, Harry learns the truth about his father's death and arrives in time to rescue Peter, teaming up against Brock and Marko. As the fight progresses, Brock attempts to impale Peter with the glider, but Harry sacrifices himself and is fatally wounded. Peter recalls how the church bell's toll weakened the symbiote, and frees Eddie from it by clanging several pipes together. Peter throws a pumpkin bomb at the symbiote just as Eddie, who has grown attached to its power, attempts to re-bond with it. Eddie and the symbiote are destroyed in the explosion.

After the battle, Marko tells Peter that he had no intention of killing Ben Parker, and that it was an accident born out of a desperate attempt to save his daughter's life. Peter forgives Flint, who dissipates and floats away. Peter and Harry forgive each other as Harry dies with Mary Jane and Peter by his side. Afterward, Peter and Mary Jane begin to mend their relationship.

Cast and characters

• Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A brilliant physics student at Columbia University and photographer for the Daily Bugle who leads a double life as the superhero Spider-Man, protecting New York City from crime. As he grows arrogant with the city starting to embrace him for the first time in his career, an alien symbiote attaches itself to Peter's costume and influences his behavior for the worse.
• Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson: Peter Parker's girlfriend and a Broadway actress, whom he has loved since childhood. Mary Jane loses her job after bad reviews regarding her singing voice, but does not tell Peter, feeling his success has gone to his head.
• James Franco as Harry Osborn / New Goblin: The son of Norman Osborn and Peter Parker's former best friend who believes that Spider-Man murdered his father. After learning Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Harry becomes the New Goblin to battle his former friend directly.
• Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko / Sandman: A small-time thug who has a wife and sick daughter, for whom he steals money to help get the treatment to cure her. He transforms into the Sandman following an accident, and incurs Peter's wrath when Peter learns he was his uncle Ben's true killer.
• Topher Grace as Eddie Brock, Jr. / Venom: A photographer at the Daily Bugle who becomes Peter's rival in getting photos of Spider-Man. He creates a fake image in the process, but an angry Peter exposes his photo as a fake, and he is fired. Having lost his job and his would-be girlfriend to Peter, Eddie leaps at the opportunity to exact his vengeance when he becomes Venom.
• Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy: The daughter of a police captain, a model, and Peter Parker's lab partner. When Spider-Man rescues her from a construction accident and then kisses her at the following award ceremony, Mary Jane grows suspicious of whether Peter is cheating on her. Eddie is attracted to her, but Peter asks her out to spite Mary Jane. Horrified, she leaves him.
• Rosemary Harris as May Parker: The aunt of Peter Parker and the widow of Ben Parker, Peter's uncle. She gives Peter her engagement ring so he can propose to Mary Jane, and gives him lessons of forgiveness.
• J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson: The aggressive chief of the Daily Bugle. He carries a personal vendetta against Spider-Man, whom he considers a criminal, and fires Eddie Brock as he is forced to apologize for fake incriminating photos of Spider-Man Eddie made.
• James Cromwell as Captain George Stacy: A police captain and father of Gwen Stacy, George Stacy holds a ceremony in honor of Spider-Man after he rescues his daughter.
• Dylan Baker as Dr. Curt Connors: A college physics professor under whom Peter Parker studies. He examines a piece of the symbiote and tells Peter it increases aggression.

Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo in Spider-Man 3, as he did in the previous Spider-Man films, which he referred to as his "best cameo".^[1] Actor Bruce Campbell, who has had cameo roles as a wrestling ring announcer in Spider-Man and as a rude usher in Spider-Man 2, returns in Spider-Man 3 with a new cameo as a French maître d'.^[2] Producer Grant Curtis also has a cameo as the driver of an armored car that Sandman attacks.^[3]

Production

Development

In March 2004, with Spider-Man 2 being released the coming June, Marvel Studios had begun developing Spider-Man 3 for a release in 2007.^[4] By the release of Spider-Man 2, a release date for Spider-Man 3 had been set for May 2, 2007 before production on the sequel had begun.^[5] The date was later changed to May 4, 2007. In January 2005, Sony Pictures Entertainment completed a seven-figure deal with screenwriter Alvin Sargent, who had penned Spider-Man 2, to work on Spider-Man 3 with an option to write a fourth film.^[6]

Immediately after Spider-Man 2's release, Ivan Raimi wrote a treatment over two months,^[8] with Sam Raimi deciding to use the film to explore Peter learning that he is not a sinless vigilante, and that there also can be humanity in those he considers criminals.^[7] He took the opportunity to make Mary Jane Watson's life torturous, similar to Peter's various problems during the second film.^[8] Harry Osborn was brought back as Raimi wanted to conclude his storyline,^[7] but Raimi felt that Harry would not follow his father's legacy, but be instead "somewhere between".^[9] Sandman was introduced as an antagonist, as Raimi found him a visually fascinating character.^[7] While Sandman is a petty criminal in the comics, the screenwriters created a background of the character being Uncle Ben's killer to increase Peter's guilt over his death^[10] and challenge his simplistic perception of the event.^[7] Overall, Raimi described the film as being about Peter, Mary Jane, Harry and the Sandman,^[11] with Peter's journey being one of forgiveness.^[12]

Raimi wanted another villain, and Ben Kingsley was involved in negotiations to play the Vulture before the character was cut.^[8] Marvel Studios chairman and CEO Avi Arad convinced Raimi to include Venom, a character whose perceived "lack of humanity" had initially been criticized by Sam Raimi.^[13] Arad told the director that he had a strong fan base, and Raimi included him to please fans,^[11] and even began to appreciate the character himself.^[13] The film's version of the character is an amalgamation of Venom stories. Eddie Brock, Jr., the human part of Venom, serves as a mirror to Peter Parker, with both characters having similar jobs and romantic interests.^[13] Brock's actions as a journalist in Spider-Man 3 also represent contemporary themes of paparazzi and tabloid journalism.^[14] Raimi had to graft the symbiote onto Peter in order to introduce Venom, and Maguire relished the opportunity to play a less timid Parker.^[8] The producers also suggested adding rival love interest Gwen Stacy, filling in an "other girl" type that Raimi already created.^[11] With so many additions, Sargent soon found his script so complex that he considered splitting it into two films, but abandoned the idea when he could not create a successful intermediate climax.^[8]

Casting

Thomas Haden Church knew Raimi as he had been approached for the director's film The Gift years before and was approached for Sandman because of his award-winning performance in Sideways:^[15] Church accepted the role of Sandman despite the lack of a script at the time. The film's Sandman possesses sympathy similarly exhibited by Lon Chaney in his portrayals of misunderstood creatures, as well as Frankenstein's monster, the Golem,^[16] and the 2000s incarnations of Gollum and King Kong.^[14] Church worked out for 16 months to improve his physique for the role,^[17] gaining 28 pounds of muscle and losing 10 pounds of body fat.^[18]

Topher Grace was cast in May 2005^[19] as Venom, impressing the producers with his performance in In Good Company (2004). Grace spent six months working out to prepare for the role, gaining 24 pounds of muscle,^[20] though in terms of characterization, he was a big comic book fan and had read the first Venom stories as a boy.^[17] Grace approached Venom as someone under the influence, similar to an alcoholic or drug addict,^[12] and interpreted him as having a bad childhood, which is the key difference between him and Peter.^[13]

As Gwen Stacy, Bryce Dallas Howard had the trouble of portraying a character whom many fans knew as Peter Parker's first love in the mainstream comics continuity, yet had the role of being another woman in his life in the film. Howard strived to create a sense that Gwen could potentially be a future girlfriend for him, and that, "I was not acting like some kind of man-stealing tart."^[21] Howard performed many of her stunts, unaware of the fact she was pregnant.^[8]

Filming

The film's budget is officially $258 million, which makes it one of the most expensive films ever made in nominal U.S. dollars.^[22] Camera crews spent ten days from November 5, 2005 to November 18, 2005, to film sequences that would involve intense visual effects so Sony Pictures Imageworks could begin work on the shots early in the project. The same steps had been taken for Spider-Man 2 to begin producing visual effects early for sequences involving the villain Doctor Octopus.^[23]

Principal photography for Spider-Man 3 began on January 16, 2006 and wrapped in July 2006 after over a hundred days of filming. The team filmed in Los Angeles until May 19, 2006.^[23] In spring 2006, film location manager Peter Martorano brought camera crews to Cleveland,^[24] due to the Cleveland Film Commission offering production space at the city's convention center at no cost.^[25] In Cleveland, they shot the battle between Spider-Man and Sandman in the armored car.^[8] Afterwards, the team moved to Manhattan, where filming took place beginning 26 May 2006 until July 1, 2006.^[23] Shooting placed a strain on Raimi, who often had to move between several units to complete the picture.^[8] Shooting was also difficult for cinematographer Bill Pope, as Spider-Man, Venom and the New Goblin were costumed in black during fight scenes taking place at night.^[26]

After August, pick-ups were conducted as Raimi sought to film more action scenes.^[27] The film then wrapped in October, although in the following month, additional special effects shots were taken to finalize the production.^[28] At the start of 2007, there were further pick-up shots regarding the resolution of Sandman's story, amounting to four different versions.^[16]

Effects

John Dykstra, who won the Academy Award for Visual Effects for his work on Spider-Man 2, declined to work on the third film as visual effects supervisor. Dykstra's colleague, Scott Stokdyk, took his place as supervisor,^[29] leading 200 programmers at Sony Pictures Imageworks designed specific computer programs that did not exist when Spider-Man 3 began production, creating to 900 visual effects shots.^[30] In addition to the innovative visual effects for the film, Stokdyk created a miniature of a skyscraper section at 1/16 scale with New Deal Studios' Ian Hunter and David Sanger. Stokdyk chose to design the miniature instead of using computer-generated imagery so damage done to the building could be portrayed realistically and timely without guesswork involving computer models.^[31]

Spider-Man punching through Sandman

To understand the effects of sand for the Sandman, experiments were done with 12 types of sand, such as splashing, launching at stuntmen, and poured over ledges. The results were mimicked on the computer to create the visual effects for Sandman.^[30] For scenes involving visual effects, Thomas Haden Church was super-imposed onto the screen, where computer-generated imagery was then applied.^[15] With sand as a possible hazard in scenes that buried actors, ground-up corncobs were used as a substitute instead,^[32] meaning Arizona sand was used as the CG model as it most closely resembled it.^[30] In a fight where Spider-Man punches through Sandman's chest, congenital amputee boxer Baxter Humby took Tobey Maguire's place in filming the scene. Humby, who was born without his right hand, helped deliver the intended effect of punching through Sandman's chest.^[33]

The suit Topher Grace had to wear as Venom had a webbing motif unlike the comic incarnation. The motif was added by the film design department to give a sense of life to the symbiote, giving it the appearance of gripping onto the character's body.^[34] Grace found his costume unpleasant, as it had to be constantly smeared to give a liquid-like feel. The costume took an hour to put on, though prosthetics took four hours to apply. Grace also wore fangs for his character, which bruised his gums.^[35] James Franco does not wear the costume of his character's father, but wears a streamlined costume solely for the intent of killing Spider-Man instead of terrorizing people.^[12] His snowboard-styled glider was dubbed the "Sky Stick" by the filmmakers.^[32]

Music

Originally, Danny Elfman, the composer for the previous installments, did not plan to return for the third installment of Spider-Man because of difficulties with director Sam Raimi. Elfman said that he had a "miserable experience" working with Raimi on Spider-Man 2 and could not comfortably adapt his music.^[36] Christopher Young was then announced to score Spider-Man 3 in Elfman's absence.^[37] In December 2006, however, producer Grant Curtis announced that Elfman had begun collaborating with Christopher Young on the music for Spider-Man 3.^[38] Young kept the themes for Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, and he composed new themes for Sandman, Venom, and the love story.^[39]

Marketing

The first teaser trailer for Spider-Man 3 was released on the Internet on June 27, 2006.^[40] The first full-length trailer premiered on November 9 on various channels and websites, with an exclusive high-definition version on iFilm, which became available after the premiere.^[41] On March 3, 2007 a second theatrical trailer was shown at WonderCon in San Francisco, California,^[42] which was attached to the film 300.^[43] The final trailer debuted on March 23, 2007 on a special website designed by Comcast for the movie.^[44]

In New York City, the hometown of Spider-Man's fictional universe, tourist attractions arranged events and exhibits on April 30, 2007 to lead up to the release of Spider-Man 3. The unique campaign include a spider exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, workshops on baby spider plants at the New York Botanical Garden, Green Goblin mask-making workshop at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, and a scavenger hunt and a bug show at Central Park Zoo.^[45]

Hasbro, which holds the license for Marvel characters, has released several toys to tie-in with the film. They include a deluxe spinning web blaster, along with several lines of action figures aimed at both children and collectors.^[46] Toys of the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus from the first two films have been re-released to match the smaller scale of the new figures, as have been toys of the Lizard, the Scorpion, and the Rhino in a style reminiscent of the films.^[47][48] Techno Source created interactive toys, including a "hand-held Battle Tronics device that straps to the inside of a player’s wrist and mimics Spidey’s web-slinging motions".^[49] Japanese Medicom Toy Corporation produced collectibles, which Sideshow Collectibles distributed in the US.^[50]

Release

Spider-Man 3 had its world premiere in Tokyo on April 16, 2007,^[51] which garnered positive reaction from Japanese viewers.^[52] The film held its UK premiere on April 23, 2007 at the Odeon Leicester Square,^[53] and the U.S. premiere took place at the Tribeca Film Festival in Queens on April 30, 2007.^[54]

Spider-Man 3 was commercially released in 16 territories on May 1, 2007.^[55] The film was released in Japan on May 1, 2007, three days prior to the American commercial release, to coincide with Japan's Golden Week.^[51] Spider-Man 3 was also released in China on May 3, 2007 to circumvent market growth of pirated copies of the film. The studio's release of a film in China before its domestic release was a first for Sony Pictures Releasing International.^[56] The film was commercially released in the United States on May 4, 2007 in a North American record total of 4,253 theaters,^[57] including 53 IMAX theaters.^[58] Tracking data a month before the U.S. release reflected over 90% awareness and over 20% first choice among moviegoers, statistics that estimated an opening weekend of over $100 million for Spider-Man 3.^[59] Online tickets for Spider-Man 3 were reported on April 23, 2007 to have been purchased at a faster rate — three times at Movietickets.com and four times at Fandango — than online ticket sales for Spider-Man 2.^[60] On May 2, 2007, Fandango reported the sales rate as six times greater than the rate for Spider-Man 2. The strong ticket sales have caused theaters to add 3:00 AM showings following the May 4, 2007 midnight showing to accommodate the demand.^[61]

By May 6, 2007, Spider-Man 3 has opened in 107 countries around the world.^[55] The FX channel signed a five year deal for the television rights to Spider-Man 3, which they plan to start airing at the beginning of 2009. The price will be based on the film's box office performance, with an option for three opportunities for Sony to sell the rights to one or more other broadcast networks.^[62]

Box office performance

On its international opening day on May 1, 2007 in 16 territories, Spider-Man 3 grossed $29.2 million, an 86% increase from the intake of Spider-Man 2 on its first day of release. In 10 of the 16 territories, Spider-Man 3 set new opening day records.^[55] In Asian territories, the film surpassed the opening-day record of Spider-Man 2 in Japan and South Korea. Spider-Man 3 also set opening-day records in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the Philippines.^[57] In India, where the movie was released in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bhojpuri, the film grossed $4.66 million over the opening weekend, breaking the record set by Casino Royale in 2006 ($3.63 million)^[63]. In Europe, the film broke Italy's opening-day record set by 2006's The Da Vinci Code.^[64] In Germany, the film surpassed the opening day gross of Spider-Man 2. In France, Spider-Man 3 broke the opening day record set by Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in 2005.^[65] The film broke the opening weekend records in 29 countries, while being at least #1 in all 107 countries that it opened, which brought its international total to $231 million.^[66]

Spider-Man 3 set a record $59.8 million take for its opening day in the United States, breaking Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 's $55.8 million record. The movie also took the worldwide opening day record with $117 million.^[67] The US opening day take includes a record $10 million in Thursday midnight showings.^[68] Spider-Man 3 broke Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest's all-time weekend debut by grossing $151.1 million.^[69] The film also set a new worldwide record for opening weekend, with a final total of $382 million.^[66] As of June 3, 2007, the worldwide total was $843 million.^[70]

Critical reaction

On the movie review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Spider-Man 3 has a 61% critic rating from 207 reviews, with a 46% Cream of the Crop rating based on 39 reviews from major news outlets.^[71] On Metacritic, Spider-Man 3 has received a 60% rating based on 39 reviews.^[72] On Yahoo! Movies, Spider-Man 3 is graded a B- among 15 film critics.^[73] In an early, positive review, posted April 25, 2007, Roger Friedman of Fox News called the film a "4 star opera", noting that while long, there was plenty of humor and action.^[74] Andy Khouri of Comic Book Resources praised the film as "easily the most complex and deftly orchestrated superhero epic ever filmed… despite the enormous amount of characters, action and sci-fi superhero plot going on in this film, Spider-Man 3 never feels weighted down, tedious or boring."^[75] Jonathan Ross, a big fan of the comic books, felt the film was the best of the trilogy.^[76] Richard Corliss of Time commended the filmmakers for their ability to "dramatize feelings of angst and personal betrayal worthy of an Ingmar Bergman film, and then to dress them up in gaudy comic-book colors."^[77] Wesley Morris of the The Boston Globe, who gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, wrote that it was a well made, fresh film, but would leave the viewer "overfulfilled".^[78] Jonathan Dean of Total Film felt the film's complex plot helped the film's pacing, in that, "it rarely feels disjointed or loose… Spider-Man cements its shelf-life."^[79]

John Hartl of MSNBC gave Spider-Man 3 a good review, but stated that it has some flaws such as having "too many storylines".^[80] His opinion is echoed by Houston Chronicle's Amy Biancolli who complained that "the script is busy with so many supporting characters and plot detours that the series' charming idiosyncrasy is sometimes lost in the noise."^[81] Jack Matthews of New York Daily News thought the film was devoted too much to the "quiet conversations" of Peter and Mary Jane, but that fans would not be disappointed by the action.^[82] Among less enthusiastic reviewers, Sean Burns of Philadelphia Weekly felt that the director "substituted scope and scale for the warmth and wit that made those two previous pictures so memorable."^[83] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times deplored the film's pacing as "mostly just plods" and a lack of humor.^[84] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film only 2 out of 4 stars, feeling, "for every slam-bang action sequence, there are far too many sluggish scenes."^[85] David Edelstein of New York Magazine misses the "centrifugal threat" of Alfred Molina's character, adding that "the three villains here don’t add up to one Doc Ock."^[86] James Berardinelli felt director Sam Raimi "overreached his grasp" by allowing so many villains, specifically saying, "Venom is one bad guy too many."^[87] The New Yorker’s Anthony Lane, who gave Spider-Man 2 a favorable review,^[88] described the film as a “shambles” which “makes the rules up as it goes along.”^[89]