There will be no Spider-Man 4 -- not in 2011, and not for perhaps another year after that. Director Sam Raimi and the all-star cast are off the case, as Sony
Spider-Man 4 was expected to make a boatload of money for stakeholders like Marvel, Sony's Columbia Pictures, and popcorn-wielding cinema chains worldwide. Each of the first three installments pulled in an average of $830 million in worldwide box office, not counting the inevitable merchandising and licensing of toys, T-shirts, and DVD discs.
With the ascendance of 3-D technology that doesn't give you a headache, both the movie theater and home entertainment divisions of Marvel and Sony were salivating over even higher sales this time -- 3-D movies fetch higher ticket prices. IMAX
Not to worry, though. Unless it’s directed by the ghost of Ed Wood and starring Pee-Wee Herman as the eponymous hero, the "rebooted" Spider-Man saga will probably crush box offices everywhere, just like its predecessors did. The payoff will just come a year later. Netflix
The Spider-Man incident illustrates why the movie industry looks like a prime investment field right now. Digital filmmaking and distribution technologies are pushing down the industry's costs, while premium packaging like 3-D showings and fancier home-format discs make us pay more for the experience. Meanwhile, the piracy bugbear raises its head less often as legal online streaming and those pepped-up retail packages each do their part to make the illegal sources less desirable.
If that's not a win-win-win for the likes of Disney, Sony, and Time Warner
