The Playlist

Sam Raimi Won't Direct 'Oz The Great & Powerful' Sequel; Finally Saw The 'Spider-Man' Remake

By Edward Davis
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March 9, 2013 9:52 AM
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5 Comments

News

Maybe it's kind of a restlessness we don't understand. After a rather pitiable box-office this past winter, one of the worst on record, "Oz The Great And Powerful," of all things, is somehow poised to make around $70 million this weekend. The expensive "Jack The Giant Slayer" movie proved not all fairy tale redos are a slam dunk and it bombed at the box-office last weekend with little signs of having any legs. But, 'Oz,' a film that received middling to OK reviews at best – we called it pretty to look at but otherwise dull – looks like it will be the first legitimate blockbuster of 2013.

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Sam Raimi Explains Why He Left Both 'Spider-Man 4' & 'World Of Warcraft'

By Gabe Toro
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March 5, 2013 3:26 PM
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5 Comments

News

It seems as if after "Spider-Man 3," all the king's horses and all the king's men just couldn't put Spidey back together again. Famously, series architect Sam Raimi tried with an attempt at a fourth film featuring John Malkovich as the Vulture, with Anne Hathaway in an unspecified role believed to be the Black Cat. Chatting with Vulture (the site, not the villain) as his next film "Oz The Great And Powerful" opens this weekend, Sam Raimi he finally opened up about the aborted project, which was canceled in favor of last summer's reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man."

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Sam Raimi Explains Why He Won't Watch Marc Webb's 'The Amazing Spider-Man"

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 19, 2013 3:51 PM
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3 Comments

News

Such are the times we live in that if you've been paying close enough attention, there are already some sites out there claiming Warner Bros. has a gameplan for when they want to reboot the Batman franchise. Maybe they do, maybe they don't, but considering that Sony kept only five years distance between Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3" and Marc Webb's reboot "The Amazing Spider-Man," it's certainly within the realm of possibility. But one person who won't be watching the Spidey reboots is Raimi himself, but not for the reasons you might think.

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Watch: Deleted Scenes From 'The Amazing Spider-Man' Offer Up Hints Of An Even More Cluttered Origin Narrative

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 15, 2012 2:49 PM
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2 Comments

News

As was documented earlier, there was a lot cut from "The Amazing Spider-Man" as Sony and director Marc Webb wrestled with the film prior to release. Among the many elements that were apparently jettisoned in the "the untold story" (which turned out be the story we already knew) was an element that Peter Parker's dad had secretly been involved in his son's transformation into Spider-Man. And some deleted scenes seem to be point out this was the case.

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Summer 2012 Wrap-Up: Which Actors, Directors & Studios Came Out On Top?

By Oliver Lyttelton
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August 22, 2012 1:00 PM
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8 Comments

Features

With "The Bourne Legacy" and "The Expendables 2" landing over the last couple of weekends, we're pretty much at the tail end of the tentpole-laden summer movie season. The rest of the month finds classic late-August programmers like "Premium Rush," "The Apparition" and "The Possession" hitting theaters before attention will be turned to the fall festival season with Venice, Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF all on the way.

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Weekend Box Office: 'The Dark Knight Rises' Bound For Largest 2D Opening In Box Office History In Wake Of Tragedy

By Gabe Toro
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July 22, 2012 3:22 PM
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21 Comments

Box Office

When discussing the box office, we try to emphasize weekly that there are always more significant issues than the amount of money a movie makes. Usually, that issue is the quality of the films themselves. This weekend, it's the horrifying loss of life in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shooting tragedy. We at The Playlist hope and pray for those directly affected by the tragedy, hoping that our readers are on the same page in regarding what we're about to discuss as simple numbers, no more.

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Weekend Box Office: 'Ice Age: Continental Drift' Provides Box Office's Last Gasp Before 'The Dark Knight Rises'

By Gabe Toro
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July 15, 2012 11:49 AM
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5 Comments

Box Office

And lo, there was an 'Ice Age' franchise. “Ice Age: Continental Drift” looks like it will continue the winning tradition of animation studio Blue Sky’s crown jewel, opening at a decent $46 million. Despite the fact that the lead characters of this franchise should be extinct by now, this past-due series still managed to generate solid opening numbers despite a summer that has already seen openings from “Brave” and “Madagascar: Europe’s Most Wanted.”

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Weekend Box Office: 'The Amazing Spider-Man' Tops Weekend, Hauls $140 Million Over 6 Days

By Gabe Toro
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July 8, 2012 12:19 PM
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14 Comments

Box Office

Here are some facts, without spin. The opening $64 million weekend of "The Amazing Spider-Man" is less than that of "Spider-Man 2" by about $24 million. The $140 million it has registered since it's release on Tuesday is overshadowed by the first three days of "Spider-Man 3," at $151 million. And with even ten years of inflation and enhanced 3D prices, "The Amazing Spider-Man" has yet to have a period at all like the then-record-breaking $115 million opening take of "Spider-Man." But nonetheless, these results are a huge success for Sony, and certainly they'll be happy with with the foundation laid down for what they hope will be a new trilogy of films.

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In Theaters: 'Spider-Man' & 'Savages' Likely To Win This Weekend's 'Do-Deca-Pentathalon'; 'Katy Perry' Might Give You 'Crazy Eyes'

By Emma Bernstein
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July 6, 2012 2:43 PM
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2 Comments

News

Happy belated Independence Day, movie fans! Now that the barbeques, firecrackers, and sunburns have subsided, we can’t think of a better way to ring in America’s 236th birthday than with a trip to the theater. This weekend, you can celebrate with an excursion high above the New York skyline, competition in an amateur Olympic event, and a shootout with drug dealers. Or perhaps you prefer a haunted house? And all while Katy Perry’s “Firework” rings out across the twilight’s last gleaming. Happy Fourth (or, you know, Sixth)!

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'The Amazing Spider-Man': The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

By The Playlist Staff
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July 6, 2012 12:26 PM
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38 Comments

Features

Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man," the second of this summer's three massive superhero movies, is now in theaters. And while so far it's performing behind "Spider-Man 3," the film's doing reasonably well (expected to haul in somewhere in the neighborhood of $130 million by Sunday) given the lack of enthusiasm from hardcore fans, and the widespread dislike of the final Sam Raimi film, which in part helped to push things toward a blank slate again. And reviews have been pretty severely divided, with some hailing it as one of best examples of the comic book genre to date, and others loathing every frame of it.

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