What It Would Take To Get Spider-Man's Sam Raimi To Direct Again
Remember Sam Raimi? He directed comic book movies before they were a cool, tried and true popular genre. His Spider-Man trilogy was among the first wave of superhero-centric blockbusters. Today, theaters don’t go long without another comic book adaptation hitting screens. Even before that, Raimi got his start in horror with The Evil Dead, another genre having a popular moment. But when will the filmmaker have his?
Sam Raimi has not directed a feature film for six years. His last project was Oz the Great and Powerful, though he has helmed episodes for the short-lived Greg Kinnear series Rake and Ash vs Evil Dead and the short The Black Ghiandola. He’s placed focus on producing projects such as Crawl and the upcoming new Grudge. As far as more directing, here’s what he said:
The Spider-Man filmmaker revealed this at New York Comic Con (via ComicBook). He sounds interested in getting back to the role but is side-stepping any projects that don’t have strong writing behind them or may not resonate with audiences. He has understandably become more choosy about what projects he decides to spend his time on.
Sam Raimi was not able to complete his vision for the Spider-Man series with a fourth installment, following the infamous Spider-Man 3. The filmmaker recently said he still thinks about his unborn Spider-Man film “all the time,” especially because a new one comes out just about every year.
He pivoted to a Disney reimagining of the Wizard of Oz, which made almost $500 million worldwide on a high-end $215 million production budget and earned mixed reviews from audience and critics alike. It didn’t become the franchise or huge success Disney was perhaps banking on, and the director has steered away from directing since.
He did tell the audience he is currently writing a script for a new movie with his brother Ivan, who was also his writing partner for Spider-Man 3 and Drag Me to Hell. He’s also previously discussed his interest in making an Evil Dead sequel. Maybe another directing project from Sam Raimi is in the works!
Recently, J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi's trilogy returned to Spider-Man -- with Raimi's blessing -- for a cameo in Far From Home. Raimi's producing project Crawl, a horror film about a woman being trapped with alligators during a hurricane, was a surprise summer hit since it made $88 million on a $13 million budget.
CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Would you like to see Sam Raimi return to directing? Sound off in the comments below!
Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.
'Sorry, Who?': Marvel Fans Might Not Know Ralph Ineson, But He's The Perfect Choice To Play Galactus In The Fantastic Four: First Steps
‘You Intentionally Hide The Stitching And Unstitching.’ Ryan Reynolds’ Explanation For Why Movies Like Deadpool And Wolverine Deserve To Be In The Awards Conversation Too Is So Spot-On