Sony, Marvel Planning ‘Spider-Man 3’ Movie
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Anticipating a successful summer blockbuster with the movie “Spider-Man 2,” film studio Sony Pictures Entertainment and comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises Inc. are already planning a “Spider-Man 3.”
Speaking to financial analysts and reporters on a conference call on Tuesday, Marvel’s film chief Avi Arad said a “Spider-Man 3” movie would likely be in theaters in 2007.
“(The) best-case scenario I can tell you (is) 2006. It is a big movie, and we would rather play it safe and talk about 2007 at this point,” Arad said.
A Sony Pictures spokesman on Wednesday confirmed that the two companies had already started development plans for a third “Spider-Man” movie, but declined to offer further details.
Sony Pictures is a unit of Japanese electronics firm SonyCorp. Sony and Marvel will roll out “Spider-Man 2” on July 2 this summer as a sequel to 2002’s hit “Spider-Man,” starring Tobey Maguire as the crime-fighting superhero who first appeared in Marvel comic books.
“Spider-Man” was the highest-grossing film of 2002, amassing over $800 million in worldwide ticket sales, and it still holds the box office record for the biggest three-day domestic debut ever with $115 million in ticket sales.
Meanwhile, Sony and Marvel remain snarled in a web of litigation over their original “Spider-Man” collaboration.
Marvel sued Sony Pictures in February 2003 seeking at least $50 million in compensatory damages and termination of their joint “Spider-Man” licensing venture.
Marvel has accused Sony of trying to hijack the Spider-Man brand by claiming exclusive merchandising rights to the character and “cross-promoting” the superhero with other Sony features in alleged violation of their partnership.
Sony counters that Marvel sought to cheat the studio out of millions of dollars through shady accounting practices and was using its litigation as leverage to pressure the studio into renegotiating the terms of their licensing deal.
The case was submitted last August to a court-appointed referee and is expected to formally heard by retired California appeals court justice Richard Neal this fall.
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