Jan De Bont in talks to direct.... SPIDER-MAN...
Published at: Jan. 4, 2000, 6:47 p.m. CST by staff
Oh dear God, No.
While Jan De Bont is an improvement over Sonnenfeld.... it's a bit like 4 week old dog shit. It doesn't quite have the aroma of dogshit like the fresh stuff.... but it still is... um... dogshit.
de Bont, like Sonnenfeld, was a brilliant cinematographer. Sure did know how to capture them pretty pictures. SPEED was visceral thrill ride with an empty center. TWISTER was a visceral thrill ride... with an empty center. SPEED II was a heaping load of excruciating dogshit... with an empty center. And lastly... THE HAUNTING, which I like quite a bit.... I can admit has an empty center. It's beautiful... The house was stunning... Lili Taylor added so much to that film for me, but De Bont couldn't control the film and it went spiralling out of control by the end.
Amy Pascal. You are not doing your company a favor if you bring De Bont in on SPIDER-MAN. Now I don't know what your current script is... I'm still working on getting it. BUT... if all that it is, is just thrills. It's empty. It's just a bit of eye candy. And eye candy works real well for perhaps 3 viewings... or maybe just for 2. You need to be making SPIDER-MAN as a movie that is lightyears ahead of all these other superhero films.
You see... You've got your hands on the cornerstone hero of MARVEL COMICS. The character that has everybit the pathos of say Charles Chaplin, don't mess this up. I'm going to give you a list of names you need to stay away from with this property. Just call it a friendly warning. In TALK BACK below... I'm sure there will be other names. Here ya go...
Jan De Bont
Barry Sonnenfeld
Renny Harlin
Roland Emmerich
and last but not least
Martin Campbell.
And in return, I'll give you one name of a director that would know exactly how to direct this movie. A director that has been out of the 'STAR' light for quite some time. His name is John Milius. Give him a call. You might be surprised.
