The Amazing Spider-Man (film)

The Amazing Spider-Man
File:The Amazing Spider-Man theatrical poster.jpeg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Marc Webb
Screenplay by	James Vanderbilt Alvin Sargent Steve Kloves
Story by	James Vanderbilt
Produced by	Avi Arad Laura Ziskin Matt Tolmach
Starring	Andrew Garfield Emma Stone Rhys Ifans Denis Leary Martin Sheen Sally Field Irrfan Khan Chris Zylka
Cinematography	John Schwartzman
Edited by	Alan Edward Bell Pietro Scalia
Music by	James Horner
Production companies	Columbia Pictures Marvel Entertainment Laura Ziskin Productions Avi Arad Productions Matt Tolmach Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	June 28, 2012 (2012-06-28) (Europe) July 3, 2012 (2012-07-03) (United States)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English

The Amazing Spider-Man is an upcoming 2012 American superhero film directed by Marc Webb. It is the fourth Columbia Pictures film that portrays Spider-Man in film and is a reboot of the Sam Raimi film series and a remake of the first film with Andrew Garfield replacing Tobey Maguire as the title role of the superhero. The cast also includes Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors. The film will portray Parker as his super powers are evolving in high school and will explore him trying to discover the truth behind his parents. With a theme of him discovering himself in the process. The film also brings to life new designs of the film franchise such as Parker inventing artificial webs like in the original comics instead of organic webs.

The film's development began simultaneously with Sony announcing the cancellation of Spider-Man 4. Opting for a reboot with the same production team rather than another sequel, the studio announced a July 2012 release date for what was now titled The Amazing Spider-Man. James Vanderbilt was hired to write the script while Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves helped fine-tune the script. Pre-production involved the casting of many actors and actresses trying out the role of Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy respectively until Garfield and Stone were the clear choice. Principal photography started in December 2010 in Los Angeles before moving to New York City with the help of Red Digital Cinema Camera Company's RED Epic camera. The film entered post-production in April 2011 with the film being shot in 3D with the help of 3ality Technica and with James Horner being involved with the film score.

Sony Entertainment has focused its marketing campaign with a promotional website with released images, three theatrical trailers, a prologue screening in certain cities, a video game tie-in being developed by Beenox and a viral marketing campaign among other products. The Amazing Spider-Man is scheduled to be released first in June 28, 2012 in Europe and will then be released in the United States on July 3, 2012 in 3D and in IMAX 3D. A sequel of the film is being planned for release in 2014 with James Vanderbilt hired to again write the screenplay and with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci reported to rewrite it.

Premise

Teenage social outcast Peter Parker spends his days trying to unravel the mystery of his own past and winning the heart of his high school crush, Gwen Stacy. Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase belonging to his father, who abandoned him when he was a child, which leads him to his dad's former partner, Dr. Curtis Connors. The discovery of his father's secret will ultimately shape his destiny of becoming "Spider-Man" and brings him face to face with Connors, who becomes the vicious and vengeful Lizard.

Cast

• Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man

An unpopular adolescent struggling to find his place in life ever since his parents disappeared when he was a young boy. Garfield described Parker as someone he can relate to, and claimed the character was an important symbol to him since he was just a toddler.Garfield drew from his life experiences as inspiration for the role, revealing, "I was thinking of my history and thinking of the kid at school who I wasn't as strong as, who behaved badly to a lot of people – including myself – and who I constantly tried to stand up to but never had the physical prowess to". In comparison with the actor who originally portrayed Spider-Man, Garfield said he respects Tobey Maguire as an actor and that when he first saw Maguire play Spider-Man he "was blown away by his interpretation." Garfield said in interviews, including one in which he was interviewed by Maguire, that when he watched the film Spider-Man when he was younger, he would recite Maguire's lines in the mirror with a friend who would joke that Garfield would never be Spider-Man. On taking over the role Garfield explained, "I see it as a massive challenge in many ways.... To make it authentic. To make the character live and breathe in a new way. The audience already has a relationship with many different incarnations of the character. I do, as well. I'm probably going to be the guy in the movie theater shouting abuse at myself. But I have to let that go. No turning back. And I wouldn't want to". After taking the role, Garfield studied the movements of both athletes and spiders and tried to incorporate them, saying Parker is "a boy/spider in terms of how he moves, and not just in the suit." He also did yoga and Pilates for the role in order to be as flexible as possible When first wearing the Spider-Man costume Garfield admitted to shedding tears and trying to imagine "a better actor in the suit", which he described as "uncomfortable" and admitted to wearing nothing beneath it is skintight. When filming Garfield explained that he had four months of training and described his physical roles on stunts as terribly challenging and exhausting.

• Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy

A high school classmate and love interest of Peter Parker, a smart, charismatic and rebellious girl who is the chief Intern at Oscorp. For the role, Stone dyed her hair blonde, her natural hair color even though she is better recognized with red hair. She felt that she had a responsibility to educate herself on Spider-Man, admitting she "hadn't read the comic book growing up, and my experience was with the Sam Raimi movies. . . . I always assumed that Mary Jane was his first love", and having only been familiar with Bryce Dallas Howard's portrayal in Spider-Man 3 Stone said, "There's a part of me that really wants to please people [who] love Spider-Man or Gwen Stacy and want her to be done justice. I hope they'll give me license to interpret her my way."

• Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard

One of Oscorp's leading scientific minds, who attempts to engineer a revolutionary regeneration serum to help regrow limbs and human tissue. Something goes wrong and he is transformed into the monster known as the Lizard. In a September 2011 interview, Ifans said his character spends the majority of the film as a human. While filming for the 9-foot tall Lizard, Ifans was required to wear a CGI suit. Initially, a large stunt-double was used as a stand-in for the role, but Ifans insisted on portraying the transformed character, to which Webb agreed. Commenting on the technology used to bring his character to life, Ifans continued "I had a green suit on, and then this cardboard head, and these big claws... Each and every time you see the Lizard, the technology is so advanced now that when the Lizard's eyes move, they're my eyes. If I frown or show any emotion, they're my emotions. That's how spectacularly advanced technology is." Ifans also said that he voiced the Lizard as well explaining, "I'm sure the voice will be toyed with in the eventual edits, but when I was shooting the CGI moments, when I wasn't actually human, when I was Lizard, I looked like a crash-test dummy in a green leotard thing. There were many moments when I had to speak to Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as the Lizard."

• Denis Leary as Captain George Stacy

This is a Denis Leary you've never seen before — he's not the cool cat bucking the system, he is the system. He's got wit, he's got an attitude, and he's got 500 officers looking for Spider-Man — who just happens to be dating his daughter.

Matt Tolmach explaining Leary's character.

Gwen's father and a New York City Police Department captain. Leary explained that he did not know much about Spider-Man in the comics and as "more of a Batman guy. Not the '60s [TV version] but the really dark Batman. But my wife was a Spider-Man nut, which was why I went to Tobey Maguire ones." He added that long before he was cast as George Stacy his friend Jeff Garlin, a Spider-Man fan, "said to me, 'The first time I met you, I thought you were George Stacy!' This was like 30 years ago. I was like, 'What?!'" Director Webb said of his casting, "[W]e all trust Denis Leary. He's got this attitude, but you love him. In this movie, he puts pressure on Peter Parker. He's on Spider-Man’s case, but you understand him. I've said this before, but good drama comes from competing ideas of what's good."

• Martin Sheen as Ben Parker

Peter Parker's uncle. Sheen admitted he was unfamiliar with Spider-Man other than through seeing Tobey Maguire's portrayal in Spider-Man 2, and knew little of the character Ben Parker except for knowing Cliff Robertson had played the part. Sheen described his character as a surrogate father, saying, "I'm dealing with this adolescent who is having problems with changes, with hormones changing and his getting out of hand. I have to give him the marching orders and so forth." Webb said, "You think of Martin Sheen as President Bartlett [of TV's The West Wing]. He has that sense of benevolent authority, but there's something else that's important, in terms of the dynamic that I wanted to explore, vis a vis Peter's relationship with his absent parents." Webb feels that unlike the scientifically inclined Peter, Uncle Ben represented the blue collar working man, a gap that could create a dynamic between the characters.

• Sally Field as May Parker

Ben Parker's wife, and Peter Parker's aunt. Director Webb felt that "when you cast someone like Sally, they come with a certain level of awareness and real genuine affection, which for Aunt May is an incredibly important thing to have." Webb said that while "we all love Aunt May", he wanted to create a tension between May and Peter. "He’s got bruises on his face, and what happens in that moment? That can create some tension, but you want there to be love there. That’s what someone like Sally Field gives you."

• Irrfan Khan as Dr. Ratha

Khan said he was offered what he described as this "pivotal role" after appearing in the TV drama series In Treatment. Khan said he was uninterested in the project at first but that both of his sons were excited about it and insisted he take the role.

• Chris Zylka as Flash Thompson

A high school nemesis who picks on Parker. Of playing the role, Zylka said, "You just try to focus. As an artist or as an actor, you just try to focus and stay in that world and block it all out."

Campbell Scott and Embeth Davidtz portray Peter's parents, Richard and Mary Parker. Annie Parisse was reported to play "the villain's wife". C. Thomas Howell plays a character named Ray. Hannah Marks portrays Missy Kallenback, an unpopular girl who has a crush on Peter. Miles Elliot portrays Billy Connors, son of Dr. Connors. Kelsey Chow has a small role as Sally Avril, a girl who goes to Peter Parker's high school. Unlike in the original films, J. Jonah Jameson does not appear. Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo appearance, as he did in the previous films, this one involving him in an action scene and which he referred to as his "best, most unusual one yet!" At the 2011 Dallas Comic Con, Lee detailed that he plays a librarian listening to music on his headphones while stamping books and dancing at the same time, despite the ongoing fight between Spider-Man and the Lizard.

Themes and analysis

I have tried to capture how Peter copes with the feelings of being an underdog, his confusions and his self-doubt. This, I hope, has brought, a certain empathy and sensitivity to his character that explains how it helps him become the hero that he eventually turns out to be.

— Andrew Garfield

Director Marc Webb described the film as "a story about a kid who grows up looking for his father and finds himself." Both Webb and star Andrew Garfield described Peter Parker as an outsider by choice, as someone hard to get close to. As in the early comic books, the character "is a science whiz. If you look back to the early Stan Lee and Steve Ditko comics, he’s a nerd with big glasses," said Webb. He explained that "the idea of what a nerd is has changed in 40 or 50 years. Nerds are running the world. Andrew Garfield made a movie [called The Social Network] about it. ... What was important in those early comics was this notion that Peter Parker is an outsider and how we define that in a contemporary context." Garfield compared his Spider-Man as a metaphor for internet anonymity, saying, "You feel the power of it, the power of not being seen, the power of the mask. Peter becomes witty when he's got that protective layer. It's like he's on a message board. He's got the anonymity of the Internet within that suit, and he can say whatever the hell he likes, and he can get away with anything." Garfield also tried to explore Parker as an orphan, which he feels "are the strongest human beings on the planet." He said Parker is "a human hero [who] goes through all of the same struggles that we all have gone through, especially the skinny ones [who] want more power than they feel they have." He believes Parker he represents "a very inspiring, aspirational character that symbolizes goodness — and how difficult it is to be good — but how worth it it is."

Stone described her character as "a daddy's girl" who is very responsible and protective of her family and loves science. She said her character "offers Parker a world of stability, of a family unit not marred with parental loss and, beyond physical allure, the two also forge an intellectual connection over their shared love of science." Her character, she explained, "is stuck between [her father] the Captain and Peter Parker and Spider-Man, who have different ways about going about finding justice in their lives" which she felt was a fun thing to explore.

Webb felt the Lizard was the best villain for the film because, "He's the literal embodiment of the theme of the movie, which is we all have a missing piece. He has no arm. Peter has no parents, and he fills that void with Spider-Man." Producer Avi Avrad felt likewise, explaining, "[Y]ou look at Peter, he misses the parents, [and] Connors has one arm. ...[E]motionally, [it] is a very similar problem. It is a cautionary tale." Webb said the Lizard "is he is not the worst villain on the planet. He's not a mustache-twirling guy who wants to terrorize people. He believes he's doing the right thing." Actor Rhys Ifans described the character he is playing not as an evil-incarnate villain but as a flawed character, much as with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. "Curt Connors is by no means an evil villain," Ifans stated. "He's not like the Batman villains, like the Joker, who are the embodiment of evil. Curtis Connors is a great man who makes a bad decision. ... [T]hat's the whole magic of the Spider-Man idea. These people are the embodiment of our flaws and our desires that lead to tragedy." Ifans described Connors as a force for good throughout his life: "He's a geneticist who wants to help people, like him, who are limbless. In his eagerness to advance that science, he makes a mistake and that's an occurrence we've seen throughout time, sometimes to our benefit, sometimes to our detriment. ...He is a broken man who wants to fix himself." Ifans added, "I'm not portraying a villain in any sense. Connors does feel cheated by God, and he's looking for answers in science. God seems to intervene."

Production

Development

Further information: Spider-Man in film § Spider-Man 4

Following director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man 3, Sony Pictures Entertainment announced a May 5, 2011, release date for the next film in the series. By this time, screenwriters James Vanderbilt, David Lindsay-Abaire, and Gary Ross had all written rejected versions of a script, and Alvin Sargent, who wrote the second and third films and was married to franchise producer Laura Ziskin, was working on yet another attempt. Raimi wanted John Malkovich to play the villain in this version. However, on January 11, 2010, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced they were rebooting the series with a new cast and crew, with industry reports saying Raimi had told Columbia parent Sony Pictures he could not meet the scheduled release date and retain creative integrity. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Ziskin, who were always involved with the franchise, continued on as producers.

Arad later explained, "We were working on what we called 'Spider-Man 4' and it was the same team [as with the first three films]. The problem was we didn't have a story that was strong enough and warranted ... another movie. And Sam Raimi ... realized we [didn't] have a good reason to make another one. And between [him] and [star] Tobey [Maguire] and obviously the studio, we all went into it not feeling good about the next story." Tolmach said one reason to restart the series was that the producers felt the core Spider-Man story was that of a boy becoming a man. Screenwriter Steve Kloves did a polish of Sargent's script, saying he had originally declined the opportunity to do so but "as a favor" to the filmmakers relented. "I also really wanted to write for Emma Stone, because I like to write for women and I particularly like Emma," he explained. "So ...I did basically character and dialogue, and that was enjoyable for me. So that was my hand in it. And I did a little plot work, but a lot of the plot was done." He also did "a little bit" of dialog for Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker / Spider-Man. In April 2012, writer-director Paul Feig said that Marc Webb, who succeeded Raimi as Amazing Spider-Man director, "invited me on set, and I did a little bit of writing for that movie, for one of the high school scenes".

When you walk out of the theater, I want the world you see to resemble what you saw on the screen. Part of the joy of cinema [is that] you make the impossible look real. I wanted it to be more grounded and more realistic and that went for the emotion of the scenes, the physical action and wardrobe. It's less based in Steve Ditko world and probably closer visually and more influenced by "Ultimate Spider-Man" but it is also very much a world of our own devising.

Marc Webb in a interview with the Los Angeles Times

Days after announcing Raimi's departure, the studio announced that Webb, whose previous film (500) Days of Summer was his directorial debut, would direct the reboot. Tolmach, now president of Columbia Pictures, and Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said they looked for a director who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker's life. Webb said he "was a little sceptical at first — you feel the presence of those other movies. But then I was like, 'How could I walk away from this? What an opportunity!'" He stated that it was something he "found very appealing" and that "he couldn't let the opportunity go." Webb said in the press release announcing him that, "Sam Raimi's virtuoso rendering of Spider-Man is a humbling precedent to follow and build upon. The first three films are beloved for good reason. But I think the Spider-Man mythology transcends not only generations but directors as well. I am signing on not to 'take over' from Sam. That would be impossible. Not to mention arrogant. I'm here because there's an opportunity for ideas, stories, and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas, and creative voice to Spider-Man." Webb felt Spider-Man is different from the Harry Potter franchise, which is based on a small number of novels, and "more like James Bond" because "there's so much material in Spider-Man that there are so many stories to tell and so many characters." He described the film as "not a remake" explaining that "we're not making Sam's movie again. It's a different universe and a different story with different characters."

Casting

File:AmazingSpider-Manpanel.jpg

Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone promoting the film at the San Diego Comic-Con.

File:Rhysifanscomiccon.jpg

Ifans promoting the film at San Diego.

In May 2010, The Hollywood Reporter said the actors who met with director Marc Webb to be considered for the lead role included Jamie Bell, Alden Ehrenreich, Frank Dillane, Andrew Garfield, and Josh Hutcherson, and in June 2010 the Los Angeles Times reported that the shortlist had expanded to include Aaron Johnson and Anton Yelchin. At least Bell, Ehrenreich, Garfield, Yelchin, Logan Lerman and Michael Angarano had screen tests. On July 1, 2010, it was confirmed that the role would go to Garfield. Webb stated that he felt he knew Garfield was the right guy when they were filming a scene not in the film where he was eating a cheeseburger while telling the character Gwen to calm down.

Sony would then hold auditions for the role of a young Peter Parker, somebody who would resemble Garfield in looks. Webb said, "I think we saw the origin of Spider-Man before but not the origin of Peter Parker." Webb felt that when you try to build the film you must also build the protagonist in the ground up. That's why he wants to introduce Peter Parker as a small child.

It was reported originally that the film would feature both Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy as love interests, but the website The Wrap later reported that only Gwen Stacy will appear in the film. In August 2010, the list of actresses to play the love interest included Imogen Poots, Ophelia Lovibond and Lily Collins with Teresa Palmer, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Emma Roberts cited by The Hollywood Reporter as "potentially in the mix". In September 2010, Variety reported that the shortlist had expanded to include Stone and Mia Wasikowska. The shortlist was reported to then include Dianna Agron, Georgina Haig, and Dominique McElligott. On October 5, 2010, it was confirmed that the role of Gwen Stacy would go to Stone. Tolmach said that her on screen spark is perfect for the role. Webb also said that the chemistry between Emma and Garfield is what made her the clear choice. This chemistry that was first introduced in the rehearsal of the film inspired a offscreen romance of the actor and actress.

On October 11, 2010, Rhys Ifans was confirmed to be the unnamed villain, and two days later his character was revealed to be Dr. Curt Connors, a.k.a. the Lizard. Producer Avi Arad said the Lizard is his favorite Spider-Man villain and he has long wanted to use him in a film. Well before the choice of the Lizard was committed, Arad had already had conceptual drawings prepared for the character.

In November 2011, Martin Sheen was reported to be playing Uncle Ben while Sally Field was in negotiations to play Aunt May. Also that month, Denis Leary was reported to be joining the Spider-Man reboot as George Stacy. In December 2011,Campbell Scott and Julianne Nicholson were in negotiations to play Peter's parents. Irrfan Khan was originally reported as playing the comic-book villain Van Adder until the character's name was revealed to be Dr. Ratha. Embeth Davidtz replaced Nicholson in the role of Peter's mother.

Design

File:Webshootersfilm.jpg

A promotional image depicting a sketch on how to build web-shooters for the film. Webb felt that the web-shooters were an important change in the franchise because it dramatizes Peter's intellect.

Webb felt a responsibility to reinvent Spider-Man on the big screen stating that he and the crew tried to keep the stunts more grounded physically which he said was a huge challenge for a film that stars a character whose abilities are superhuman. Webb looked at the Mark Bagley art for the Spider-Man body and he really liked that work in Ultimate Spider-Man. One change of the franchise to reinvent the hero for the film was to go back to the original source material in the mainstream comics of Spider-Man having artificial web-shooters. Writer Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times was skeptical of the change feeling that it's too hard to believe that a financially strapped young man to conceive a wrist-worn device that can instantly produce a strand of synthetic webbing. Even though there was skepticism of the change Webb himself felt that "the web-shooters were able to dramatize Peter's intellect". Webb paid attention to the question of "How would a kid make it?" And then took some license with it. Webb explained that he and the crew "wanted a design that would make the body longer and more lithe, more of an acrobat, someone incredibly agile, and the legs of the spider [symbol on the chest] were something we used to emphasize that." He also explained that the crew made a bunch of different suits for different lighting conditions even using something that would work in the night a little better. Webb and the crew also paid attention to making the webbing on the costume a little bit darker. Webb confessed, "With the costume and the web-shooters we wanted to emphasize that these are things that Peter Parker made".

While Webb introduced a few elements of the film with Ultimate Spider-Man, he wanted to keep the mainstream version of Gwen Stacy instead of the punk rock girl as depicted in Ultimate Spider-Man.

Ever since the design of the Lizard in merchandise along with unconfirmed concept art of the character was released, the reaction of the Lizard designs of the character sporting a humanoid-shape with a layer of scales on top instead of having a pronounced snout (similar to a dinosaur or crocodile) like that of its latest design of comics were mostly reported to have a mixed reaction with it being popular for many writers to compare the design of the character to other fictional characters instead of how he is commonly depicted in the comics. Although Russ Fischer of /Film described the character compared it as looking more "Steve Ditko derived" who is the original artist for the character. Webb felt that there are different incarnations of The Lizard in the comic book. He felt that he should do it without the snout because he was interested more in something that could relate human emotions because he wanted to keep Rhys' performance in that creature. Webb wanted him to have emotion, have a face and have feeling. That's the way he decided to do that. He stated "that in a comic book, you just put that thing up there, and you can say, oh, thought bubble, whatever. But when you try to do that and make it look real, it's a different challenge, and I'm creating a movie, I'm not creating a comic book. That was part of the design."

Webb felt that he "wanted to do something that felt more contemporary, and was less based in representing panels from the comics" and focus on spirit over style.

Filming

Some of the The Amazing Spider-Man film crew working on the film.

Principal photography began on December 6, 2010 in Los Angeles. The working title of the film was dubbed Fiona's Tale. The 90-day film shoot also includes two weeks in New York City, while the bulk of filming occurred in and around Los Angeles, including such locations as the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, St. John Bosco High School's Gym, Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Mid-Wilshire, and various locations around South Pasadena, San Pedro, and Woodland Hills. Sony Entertainment spokesman Steve Elzer says "this is the fourth Spider-Man production we have shot primarily in Los Angeles and for good reason, the crews here are the best in the world but there is a comfort level in producing a project of this size and scope on your own backlot." He continued, "Basing the film on the lot also makes it easier for producers to interact with Sony’s in-house visual effects team, and gives the studios greater control of quality and security."

The film was the first Hollywood production to be filmed with the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company's RED Epic camera, and is being shot in 3-D at 5K resolution. Cinematographer, John Schwartzman had this to say about the camera: "Today was Epic, Monday December 6 marks the first day the Red Epic camera was used to shoot a major studio motion picture. I can say for certainty the camera does exist and boy is it ready for primetime, as a matter of fact it's a true game changer." Schwartzman also felt that the 3D of the film would have been more impossible without it. He said "I can tell you without these cameras it would be impossible to move a 3D rig in the ways that THIS story demands, if Jim and the crew hadn't made these cameras available to us I don't think we could have shot this movie the way our director envisioned it in 3D." Webb had a chance to talk about the RED Epic cameras on Attack of the Show! saying that in order to shoot in 3D he and the crew wanted cameras small enough to fit on the rigs that he and the crew plan to use so they could swing them around as fast as they could saying that the "RED Epic cameras were the right cameras to do that." Webb continued that "you need to shoot it with a level of velocity and 3D cameras can be very large...and so we need those cameras to mount on rigs that could fly to the air and run to the streets in a certain pace. That allowed us to do it."

A stunt man dressed up as Spider-Man swinging in the air.

The stunt performers of the film included the Armstrong family, Vic Armstrong and Andy Armstrong along with Richard Norton who plays a SWAT team member. Andy Armstrong was the stunt coordinator while Vic Armstrong was said to be the second unit director. While filming in New York the crew built a whole rig hundreds of feet long over Riverside Drive in Harlem. While there they swung a man through traffic down the street. Andy Armstrong built a car rig with a series of wires to help with effects which Webb said required an "incredible wealth of acrobatics". These rigs were said to be over 200–300 feet and it took months and months of rehearsals and designing. Webb said the purpose of the rigs was so they could show Spider-Man swing in a way that wasn't computer-generated. Garfield was reported to be involved with some of the stunts as well. He was even being reported to have a tissue in his nose suffering a nosebleed from his swinging while in in New York City. Arad explained that "Andrew is not only a brilliant actor but he is a sportsman. This gave us the opportunity to try things with him that were it not so it would have been almost impossible." Vic Armstrong felt that the way Spider-Man moves and flies is different from Superman or Iron Man and instead actually relates the way the character moves to Tarzan. Vic felt like the feeling of weightlessness that Spider-Man gets after he is pulling three and a half G's was missing that you couldn't see in the computer generated version and decided to add that in the film. Tolmach thought that we've all seen enough movies in which visual effects can be spectacular but you think sometimes your eye intuitively know when something is not real. He explained that they tried to capture with Andrew and the stunt team to do things never seen before with the creation of a physical reality (like feeling that he is actually falling when he is depicted as such). He explained that was something important to them and that it was something they spent a lot of time time doing. Filming locations also included near East River close to the Williamsburg Bridge. Although filming was near there, a lot of the action scenes couldn't be done there. A 150 foot replica of the piece of the bridge near a tank had to be replaced for some of the action scenes in Los Angeles and then some of the tighter shots and close-ups were done on a soundstage in New York City.

On April 2011, Stone revealed that the cinematography had been wrapped up and that post-production began in May although some reshooting took place in New York City in November 2011 and in Los Angeles in December 2011.

According to actor and stuntman Richard Norton, the film was "a $220 million budget movie".

Effects

The company 3ality Technica of Burbank, California was involved with shooting the equipment for the 3D for the film. The film is reported to be the first to be lensed in 3D using 3ality Digital's TS-5 wireless and handheld beamsplitter mirror rig. 3ality technology helped make it possible for the film not to be post-converted to 3D. About 3D Webb explained that he wanted to create a new 3D experience for Spider-Man: "Because we're shooting in 3D, I wanted to conceive of certain things very specifically for 3D. There's an experimental component to 3D that's fascinating and we're experimenting with generating that point of view – so you feel what Peter Parker feels, you feel what Spider-Man feels when he's jumping over buildings and over the streets. He felt that if there ever should be a 3D film it should be about Spider-Man." Webb elaborated that he shot the film in stereo so it was native 3D while nothing was ever converted. Webb felt that when you get that scope, the film will gradually expand. Webb stated that he and the crew "started making the movie around the time Avatar came out" which made every studio in the world want 3D. He admitted that he hadn't worked with it before and he didn't want it forced upon the movie because he has seen bad conversions and it scared him that it hasn't been used properly. He wanted to figure out how to give the audience an experience "that's worthy of a Spider-Man film". Webb also said while James Cameron liked to play 3D as depth, Webb wanted to push it a little bit further. He wanted it so that it would come out of you with films such as Creature from the Black Lagoon and House of Wax that he remembered when he was a kid as an inspiration for him to exploit that.

About the creation of the Lizard, Webb explained that there was an entire staff of people dedicated to make the Lizard look lifelike. They started by thinking about a lizard's biology and how his muscles would work. When shooting sequences of the Lizard, the crew actually shot an actual big human guy that was referred to as Big John, who did a lot of the interactive stuff. Once the interaction of the Lizard was done, then the computer-generated lizard would replace him. Ifans would do the motion capture of the Lizard with Webb feeling that he should try to incorporate his performance into The Lizard and keep Ifan's performance in that creature. Webb described that as taking enormous amount of time and tricky. Webb also explained a lot of motion capture was used to the point that every moment was rendered from that input. It took a whole amount of work just to find the nuances, the eyebrow moves along with the lip curls. And when they were trying to create a character that speaks, they had to create a mouth armature and a biologically working palate that can actually create words. When computer generating the Lizard, Webb wanted to create emotion within the character that are essentially computer animated just like Pixar movies which he felt does it very well.

In February 2012, the film was reported to be getting a digital touch up in Vancouver by Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Music

James Horner has been hired to write the score for the film. When hearing Horner's first musical cue Webb described it as being "spectacular". Webb said he wanted to find a composer to understand both grandeur and intimacy and he felt that James was a genius at that. "I wanted to to create a score that felt massive and huge but also intimate and small." Webb told Collider at the Wondercon in Anaheim, California. The score album will be released under the Sony Classical banner.

Marketing

Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego promoting the film for Comic-Con.

In February 2011, after the launch of the official website and the title of the film, the first official image of Garfield as Spider-Man was originally revealed in the website. Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times agreed "that the suit lives up to the challenge of being different from the Sam Raimi films but not too different from the classic suit that stands as one of the great comic-book costumes ever." Matt Goldberg of Collider admitted to not being crazy about it explaining that the bug-yellow eyes felt weird to him and the mesh-pattern felt too busy. He explained that the design of the gloves gives him flashbacks to the Spider-Man 2099 costume which he didn't like. Although he felt that the web-shooters looked fine.

First revealed at the Comic-Con in November 2011 was a Spider-Man and Lizard PEZ dispenser which first revealed how the Lizard was going to look like. In December 2011, it was revealed that Mega Brands obtained the rights to produce construction sets based on the film. A Marvel Select action figure of the film version of Spider-Man with building wall base by Diamond Select Toys was announced on January 2012. Being the fifth Marvel Select Spider-Man figure, but the first based on a film. The first look of a Hasbro action figure of the film's version of Spider-Man was revealed in Comic-Con at July 2011. Hasbro is even selling a radio control speed climbing figure of the character. There also consists Minimates action figures of the film. Other companies that are releasing action figures for the film include Hot Toys, MediCom and Kaiyodo. OPI Products has released a collection of The Amazing Spider-Man nail polish. Trading cards have been revealed as a promotion for the film online.

CKE Restaurants, parent company of Carls Jr. and Hardee's, will help sponsor the film. Brad Haley, chief marketing officer of CKE restaurants said they will even have a new burger as part of the promotion. The burger was revealed to be dubbed "The Amazing Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger". It will be promoted through The Amazing Spider-Man-themed commercials as well as radio ads featuring Spider-Man creator and comic book legend Stan Lee. Spider-Man themed premiums will be offered as part of the Cool Kid's Combo. Tours and PlayStation 3 game prizes will also be included as part of the promotion. The video game that is based on the film is part of the prize as well. Big Cola was reported to enter a deal for promotion of the film.

The Kellogg Company and the Keebler Company teamed up with Sony for a marketing campaign to access clips from the film. Sony has launched a new augmented reality mobile application theme for the film being developed using Qualcomm's Vuforia platform. Dwight Caines Of Sony felt that the "use of augmented reality technology is a fun way of embracing the 3D aspects of the movie while nurturing the playful kid inside all of us who wants to collect items from their favorite superhero character to share with their friends and family." Twizzlers has teamed up with Sony to mark the debut of the film by challenging fans nationwide to help the hero build a virtual web of Twizzlers Twists to unlock prizes and exclusive content. D-Box Technologies and Sony have reached an agreement for people to see the film in motion simulation in select theaters worldwide. WalMart is also teaming up with Sony and Marvel Entertainment to help endorse the film with tours for the film and with exlusive offerings such never before seen footage of the film.

T-shirts depicting the film's Spider-Man to help the cause for Stand Up to Cancer are being sold. Andrew Garfield even wore it for the cause and to help prompt t-shirt sales. He explained that "these shirts underscore the idea that anyone has the power to be a hero. Cancer is one of our greatest villains. I'm proud to join others in standing up to this disease." Laura Ziskin, the producer of The Amazing Spider-Man was used as inspiration for the cause because of her involvement of the charity program and her death of cancer while at work for the film. Sony even created a website to help out for the cause and celebrate to let other people being a hero by doing charity in cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Houston, Miami and Atlanta.

Previews

A teaser trailer was leaked on the Internet and aired at San Diego's Comic-Con International in July 2011, attached to the superhero film Captain America: The First Avenger. Rob Keyes of ScreenRant felt that "it takes on a noticeably different tone from that of Raimi trilogy of Spider-Man movies, and presents itself in a similar fashion to what Christopher Nolan did with Batman Begins." Germain Lussier of /Film felt that the trailer makes it feel like a small film when judging with all the leaked photos of filming going on that it is going to be a big film. He commented that the trailer makes it look more like "a superhero Twilight." He states that "this is a big action movie with massive practical effects all shot in painstaking 3D with a hefty price tag. This trailer really doesn't sell that." Some writers have observed that the trailer closely resembles the 2008 video game Mirror's Edge, when Spider-Man is running along the rooftops and swinging in the city in a point of view shot. Once the third trailer was out Webb explained himself on the negative reaction of the point of view footage because of it being computer generated saying that he believed that he and the crew were still in production making it a very early rendering of some of the CGI that was shown in it.

A "sneak peek screening" of The Amazing Spider-Man was held on February 6, 2012 in 13 cities internationally: Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Seoul, Sydney, and Tokyo. On January 8, 2012, the Spider-Man logo has also appeared on some of the world's most iconic buildings such as the Sydney Opera House, the Colosseum of Rome, the Kremlin in Moscow and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The screening revealed a second trailer for the film screened in 3D, which thereafter appeared online. Glen Levy of Time magazine felt that with the trailer's "dialogue goes hand in hand with the action, rather than be dominated by it", and that the action scenes from the film looked "polished and slick". Additionally in the special screening there was a eight and a half minute extended trailer which Webb walked the fans to. When seeing the extended footage, Scott Mantz of Access Hollywood felt that it's edgier and more character-driven and that "the Lizard looks like a great villain". Peter Sciretta of /Film said that both of the trailers had left him "impressed" and had captured a feeling of dark naturalism alongside Spider-Man's trademark wisecracking. With the second official trailer and the sizzle reel Webb felt that it was important to give the audience a more specific idea of what the film would look like such as showcasing Peter and Gwen's relationship along with showcasing a lot of the visual effects just to display the attitude of the film that he and the crew were trying to create. On February 7, 2012 it was reported that the latest official trailer revealed a link of the viral marketing internet site for the film.

A third official trailer was debuted on iTunes on May 3, 2012. The trailer was attached to the 3D premiere of The Avengers, the day after. The trailer contains with what most reporters call a better and more fleshed look of the Lizard. Adam Chitwood of Collider said, "The webslinging has an edge to it and The Lizard has much more texture. I like Andrew Garfield a whole lot, and the biggest draw for me here is the character work between Garfield and Emma Stone. They look to have some great chemistry and Garfield brings out a dickish side of Peter Parker that we didn't really see in Sam Raimi's trilogy." Sandy Schaefer of ScreenRant felt that "the darker color palette and 3D visuals shown here look overall quite crisp, even without the benefit of the big screen." Webb felt that "there's a small, intimate little indie movie at the heart of Spider-Man" and that was his access point for the trailer.

In May 9, 2012 the first tv spot trailer was revealed which teased an "4 minute Super Preview" on NBC with the season premiere of America's Got Talent on May 14. The super preview revealed Spider-Man saving a boy near a bridge whose dad is revealed to be played by C. Thomas Howell. Most fans and writers applauded that scene in the extended preview the most. Even Angela Watercutter of Wired felt that the footage that was shown was mostly shown before but described the unseen footage of the Spider-Man saving the kid as "pretty freaking epic." Kofi Outlaw of ScreenRant felt that the biggest thing to note "is the tone and composition of the film" and that most of the footage "manages to showcase a version of Peter Parker / Spider-Man that is both familiar and fresh."

A six minute 3D preview was tied in with IMAX 3D showings to Men in Black 3. Sony's Rory Bruer explained that the audience of Men in Black 3 should be a perfect match for for this footage and felt that the six minutes of the footage of the film should get everyone excited for what is in store for the film. The footage revealed a exchange from Peter and Gwen which Brad Williams from WhatCulture.com described as as "brief and cutesy". Brad also felt that the CGI looks pretty clean and felt that the character seemed like a perfect match for 3D when watching it.

Viral campaign

Graffiti of the logo of Spider-Man done in Seattle, Washington by operatives for the viral campaign for The Amazing Spider-Man.

The link of the main viral marketing site was first revealed in the second trailer. The official Twitter account of the same name of the website revealed a scavenger hunt by posting "Property of Peter Parker... Lost" with the longitude and latitude coordinates of direct markets in major cities in the United States. Discovered in these places was a JanSport backpack modeled as Parker's backpack which contained many items. Hidden in the backpack was a clue which pointed to a page on the viral site which then unlocked a countdown on the main website. There was a countdown timer for the cities of Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle and Phoenix, Arizona. Once the countdown was up each of the six city's own twitter account of the marketing campaign would send out five different pick-up locations in each city. The first of who spoke a password to a particular guy stationed there would pick up a package and be tagged as an "operative" into the next phase. These operatives would show their support of Spider-Man by painting the Spider-Man logo with graffiti on the particular city. Those operatives then had a chance to unlock the first scene of the film where Peter goes face to face with an intimidating doorman which was leaked online. George Wales of Total Film felt that "it's not the most action-packed of sequences, but it does at least give us a chance to see Andrew Garfield’s boyish charisma in full effect, as he struggles not to lose his cool. Katey Rich of Cinema Blend felt that the scene was funny and nicely placed but also felt that if Peter was as clever as his alter ego he should have been able to talk himself out of the situation. Dave Trumbore of Collider compared it to Bruce Campbell's cameo scene of an obnoxious usher in Spider-Man 2 saying that the doorman "is no Bruce Campbell" but he felt that it pays homage to the Sam Raimi vision.

A Daily Bugle van was parked outside near Wondercon at Anaheim. Wanted posters were then revealed there which referred Spider-Man as a "webbed menace." A site of the same name was discovered revealing Dennis Leary as George Stacy lamenting the appearance of the wall-crawler and asking on whoever spotted Spider-Man to e-mail them in a a cable channel run by The Daily Bugle. The site would then offer many of the best fan made Spider-Man scenes that were emailed. The viral website then revealed a section which linked another viral website that pretended itself as a baggage claim of Parker's backpack with two pages that didn't appear originally. Website Superhero Hype! published a message that was decoded by alternate reality game players from an internet forum, as well as a photo blog which appears to be from Peter Parker's point of view. In that website a unlocked puzzle revealed "evolve" "through" and "engineering" which then put together revealed another website with design sketches on how to build a web-shooter. People who have sent images of Spider-Man on the webbed menace viral site then received a poster that sent them to a website that acts a main website of a boxing gym entitled Jerera's Boxing Gym. The Boxing Gym was mentioned to be funded by Midtown Science High School which is the school Peter Parker goes to in the film. A viral website of that class is then discovered. Somebody can then enter a certain password that can be decoded on the site that shows the images of Parker's point of view on the particular image that shows a mathematical formula which is a alphanumeric code of the password. Once the password is set, Parker's class schedule is recovered. A key word is used at the end of a sentence which lead to a site that reveals a picture of Parker with his parents. Also the Midtown High School site revealed a twitter user tracking down the Lizard and wanted people in Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Austin, Tampa, Minneapolis and New Orleans to stay tuned for details. The twitter account revealed that hashtags would then appear on May 11, 2012 to reveal the planned event. Meanwhile a viral site for Oscorp industries was then discovered. The Twitter account that coordinated a nationwide effort to track sightings of the Lizard revealed coordinates that led players to locations where packages were discovered that contained Connor's shredded labcoat, an Oscorp ID badge and scientific samples of reptilian skin. When unscrambling the letters listed on each sample, the words "animal dynamics lab" lead players to a new Oscorp Industries site focusing on a science program that focuses on reptile genetics. The site depicts Doctor Connors looking for interns and that the application process appears set to begin on Monday, May 14. In this site, a key word "Mutagen" was used to unveil another site on the Oscorp Industries website. This part of the site revealed a featurette of the Lizard. The application process with Doctor Connors looking for interns was revealed to be a game that players are required to match colored portions of elements in order to form a string between two molecules to unlock the already revealed Lizard featurette. The Oscorp Industries websites also contained puzzles that reveal two new in-game documents, two new video updates featuring Connors and a following cipher that has yet to be cracked. From there images were then unscrambled revealed a research slide of a project with spiders, a letter from Mary Parker to Richard Parker revealing Richard as a workaholic and a Daily Bugle newspaper talking about Oscorp with notes written on it. In May 30, 2012, the third (and apparently final) set of challenges in the Animal Dynamics Lab was launched which revealed seven sub-sites which revealed once again two new video updates of Doctor Connors along with a image of Richard and Mary Parker and letters from Rajit Ratha to Doctor Connors and one from Doctor Connors to Richard Parker both about a science project along with another note to Richard from Mary. The twitter account who coordinated the Lizard account congratulated the find of the sub-sites and then recommended to see what transpires on the latest discovered sub-site. George Wales of Total Film felt that the short films that depict Doctor Connors explaining his project (which also hints that he may have used himself as a test subject) as seeming a teensy bit redundant for the film although he feels that "they do help create anticipation for the film without giving anything too spoilery away." In June 1, 2012, a Carl's Jr. in Glendale, California hosted the next viral campaign by decorating with webs and declaring a crime scene due to Spider-Man's apprehension of a serial car and motorcycle thief. It was announced via The Mark of the Spider-Man twitter feed and with help of the code word "Web of Crime", a location for a hidden message was discovered entitled a "Spider cipher". A code name was revealed to be "adhere" which was discovered to be a name of another sub-site of the Mark of the Spider-Man campaign revealing crime reports. Meanwhile in the same day the latest sub-site of the Oscorp Industries viral campaign revealed with what seemed to be lists of dates and locations.

Oliver Lyttleton of indieWire felt that that viral ads such as the webbed menace website seemed a little forced and that Sony is cribbing heavily from the example set by The Dark Knight with viral games. Silas Lesnick of SuperheroHype! described the film viral as "proving to be one of the most comprehensive film virals to date". When reporting on one of the viral campaign promos for the film, CB Droege of TG Daily really admired the trend of creating original material for promos but feels that they should not be described as viral campaigns stating "that it shows that they don't really understand how social media works."

Release

Sony first said on February 10, 2010, that the film would be released in 3D and IMAX 3D on July 3, 2012 in but due to high box office collections of the weekends, a few of the films original release was revealed to be changed to June in countries such as India and the Philippines. Kercy Daruwala of Sony Pictures in India felt very confident that the audiences of India will enjoy watching due to watching the film before the United States and also due to the famed Indian actor (Irrfan Khan) being connected to the film. The film will then be released in its original confirmed date in the United States in July 3. According to Sony the earliest release dates of when the film will come out is in June 28, 2012 in some countries of Europe.

Other media

A video game of the same name that is based on the film was first announced at the 2011 New York Comic Con with the game being developed by Beenox, the development team behind the previous two Spider-Man games, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man: Edge of Time, which is planned to be released on June 26, 2012 in Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, personal computer, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS. Dee Brown of Beenox felt that the film was an inspiration of the development of the video game on how the creators wanted it to turn out. "The fact that our game is based on the movie, and the movie is re-approaching the universe in a completely different way — a more grounded, more realistic approach — gives us an incredible setting to play with". The game was revealed to take place after the events of the film as stated by a producer at Activision.

In December 2011, the comic book related website BleedingCool.com reported that a comic book adaption of the film entitled "Amazing Spider-Man: The Movie" #1-4 would come out on June by a author that was to be announced.

Due to the success of Ultimate Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, Sony and Gameloft have teamed up again to create a offical mobile game for the film. It will be released alongside the film in phones, iPhones, iPads and Android devices.

Sequel

Main article: Spider-Man in film § Sequel (2014)

The studio plans to produce a sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man. It has hired screenwriter Vanderbilt to write the screenplay and Star Trek, Transformers and Fringe scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to re-write it. It is set for release on May 2, 2014. Webb stated that there will be a hint of the sequel's villain in the 2012 film. He additionally stated that there are hints to deeper storylines as well, but that he wishes to focus on finishing The Amazing Spider-Man before going fully to work on the sequel. Webb also stated that the origin story will unfold not just in this film but in the other films to come.

External links

• Official website
• The Amazing Spider-Man at IMDb
• The Amazing Spider-Man at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Amazing Spider-Man at Box Office Mojo
• The Amazing Spider-Man at AllMovie
• The Amazing Spider-Man at Metacritic
• The Amazing Spider-Man at IGN