Novelist Chabon to Write Spidey Sequel
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) – Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon will rewrite “The Amazing Spider-Man,” the sequel to the summer box office smash. The deal is potentially worth in the mid seven figures.
Columbia Pictures has already inked with stars Tobey Maguire and Kirstin Dunst, as well as with director Sam Raimi and producers Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad and Ian Bryce.
The sequel is set to begin shooting early next year and is slated for a May 7, 2004, release.
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, creators of Disney’s “Shanghai Noon” franchise, were originally inked to pen the sequel. David Koepp, who received sole screenplay credit for the first picture, also wrote a draft.
Chabon’s Pulitzer-winning “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” which he adapted for producer Scott Rudin, is the story of an immigrant Jewish artist who partners with his Brooklyn cousin and creates comic books by drawing on their own fears and dreams to invent villains and superheroes.
Chabon also was approached by 20th Century Fox in 1996 when the studio was still seeking a writer to crack “The X-Men.” Although the author wrote an impassioned letter to the studio outlining his take on the story, he ultimately wasn’t selected for that project.
Chabon’s short story collection, “Tales of Mystery and Imagination,” has been optioned under by Miramax, which also is developing a pic from Chabon’s just-published children’s novel, “Summerland.” Rudin also has optioned the author’s next novel, “Hatzeplatz,” on the basis of a 1-1/2-page proposal. Chabon will pen that adaptation.
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