'The Amazing Spider-Man' News: James Franco Says Reboot Was Made Too Soon [VIDEO]
James Franco revealed on Wednesday that last year's The Amazing Spider-Man did not thrill him.
Franco played Harry Osborn in the original Spider-Man trilogy, which concluded in 2007. In his review of Man of Steel, Franco said that he didn't think a Spider-Man reboot needed to be made so quickly. He said that The Amazing Spider-Man was made "before there was time to bury the corpse of the old one and enshroud it in the haze of nostalgia."
He added that the primary reason for the reboot being made was for money: "We are in the film business, and the studios are owned by large corporations who want to make money." He cited The Avengers making $200 million in its opening weekend as a primary example for why studios keep green-lighting comic book movies.
Regardless, Franco said that kids are interested in comic book heroes, teens are interested in sex and flashiness and adults are interested in money. For those reasons movie franchises will continue to be rebooted, despite the lapse of time since the last one. He said, "If Brandon Routh doesn't work as Superman, or if Sam Raimi can't agree on the villain for a fourth Spider-Man, they will just make new versions without them."
Franco discussed The Amazing Spider-Man also back in January and said that he wasn't a fan of the reboot.
"I mean, they could have strayed a little bit more from the original," Franco said, "It's like, 'Why?' Well, I guess they made a lot of money. Congrats. Good for them. Sam and I moved on, we made Oz.
The Amazing Spider-Man made $262 million at the U.S. box office last July, causing studio executives to green light a sequel. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is currently in production and scheduled for a May 2014 release date.
Plans for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 were also announced on Monday. They will be released in theaters in 2016 and 2018 respectively.
