david hayter Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When it comes to superhero franchises, the news just never ends, and the next one on everyone's radar is bound to be Spider-Man 4. It has its release date set (May 6, 2011) and Sam Raimi says they're only working on part four at this point, and still in the middle of hashing out a story. They are, however, close to choosing the big baddie: "All the characters or villains, whatever we decide to do will be from Stan Lee's creations or those that came after him." He's also planning to write in Mary Jane, and hopes Kirsten Dunst agrees to come back ... so I guess that's an indication she's still not signed the way Tobey Maguire is. [MTV]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine seems to have test screened, somewhere, and spoiler filled reviews are hitting the Internet. (Scott Adkin Fanz has one, but its origin is uncertain. Read at your own risk.) I haven't read them (surprises in this job are so far and few between that I'd like to go into Wolverine fairly fresh) but Devin Faraci is wondering how the heck they can go to Japan from here ... or anywhere, really.

One of the biggest questions (other than: Will it suck?) surrounding Wolverine is what they've done with Deadpool. The LA Times' Dish Rag caught up with Ryan Reynolds and he painted a tiny picture of how the film approaches the character: "I don't even look at it like I play Deadpool. I really think I'm more or less playing Wade Wilson, obviously, and then I'm playing the creature that will eventually become Deadpool. But in this movie, it's sort of his newly formed version, so to speak." He also shrugs off rumors that he's being groomed for his own spinoff. "I've had a couple of people approach me about meetings for a 'Deadpool' movie, but I just think it's absurd to even think that way until this movie comes out."

So, the box office results are in and Watchmen plummeted a sharp 67% in only its second week. While Warner Bros is brushing it off and pointing out that Sex and the City suffered a comparable drop, it's a little disheartening. 300 rocked the box office for weeks in March 2006, but Watchmen is limping in comparison. The drop is even more stinging in lieu of David Hayter's open letter to fans begging them to support the film in its second weekend. "You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week. If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film's got both, literally), or true adaptations -- And if you're thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it'll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we'd like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again."

The counterpoint to Hayter is Devin Faraci, who already considers the film a success on an artistic and commercial level. For a property unknown to a lot of people, it had a bigger opening than the surefire characters of Superman Returns or Batman Begins, and the risk Warner Bros took will pay off in its artistic reputation. Kevin Smith admitted to Slashfilm that it had influenced his decision to make A Couple of Dicks with Warner Bros, and other directors are bound to feel the same.