Comic-Con 2014: Spider-Man 3 Pushed To 2018

As journalists and fans begin their sojourn to San Diego for Comic-Con, Columbia Pictures quietly revealed a big bump in their schedule.

Sony has announced that Drew Goddard’s The Sinister Six will hit theaters on November 11, 2016 with The Amazing Spider-Man 3 to follow sometime in 2018. It makes sense, as Sinister Six is the only stable Spidey-themed film at the moment. The Amazing Spider-Man writer/producer Robert Orci recently left the series to take over directing duties on the now J.J. Abrams-less Star Trek franchise. And despite strong international box office, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 made the least domestic dough of any Spider-Man film and (in terms of reviews) got the most tomato splatter on its costume.

Back in May CraveOnline reported that producers didn’t know what Spider-Man 4 would be about, but right now, they apparently don’t even know what The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will be about. “It’s all up for grabs, right now. We’re just trying to figure it out,” screenwriter/producer Alex Kurtzman told Collider.

So, in short, Sony is trying to figure out a long game plan, while still planning to release a Spider-Man-themed film every two years. But as our esteemed William Bibbiani (who will be bringing you more tidbits from said Comic-Con 2014) pointed out, Sony is at a disadvantage against all the other studios’ universe-building operations because the properties that they own have fewer characters to create that world without exhausting Spider-Man. And audiences might already be exhausted. There is a plan to film Venom as a standalone film, but Kurtzman (who is slated to write and direct) isn’t sure of where that fits in the shifting Spidey universe at the moment.

Okay, so you want some optimism? Well, unlike the reboot, four years before the next web film, certainly isn’t a rush job. Maybe they can use that time to iron out the wrinkles.

Oh and the film that is sliding into the June 10, 2016 date now that Spider-Man has swung outta there? The long in-development videogame adventurer adaptation (and former David O. Russell project, now directed by Seth Gordon, he of Identity Thief and Horrible Bosses) of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

Brian Formo is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @BrianEmilFormo.