Could “The Hobbit” Impact Spidey 4?

Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF Jounalist)

Should “Spider-Man 4″ swing onto the big-screen, it might have to do it without its leading man, woman and director.

Sam Raimi, who is not contracted to direct a fourth installment of the popular comic-book franchise, has been rumored to be New Line Cinema’s first choice to direct “The Hobbit” should negotiations fall through with Peter Jackson.

In this week’s “Entertainment Weekly” Raimi publically addressed these rumors for the first time.

“Peter Jackson might be the best filmmaker on the planet right now,” he said. “But, um, I don’t know what’s going to happen next for me right now. First and foremost, those are Peter Jackson and Bob Shaye’s films. If Peter didn’t want to do it, and Bob wanted me to do it—and they were both okay with me picking up the reigns — that would be great. I love the book. It’s maybe a more kid-friendly story than the others.”

But it would seem that Columbia is doing their best to keep Raimi from jumping ship to New Line and “The Lord of the Rings” franchise. The studio picked up a high profile, fantasy concept script and has asked Raimi to serve as executive producer for the project. The project doesn’t have a title yet but reports are that Columbia paid big bucks for the script, which is “an all ages fantasy” story with the potential to be a huge franchise for the studio. The story centers on a cynical New Yorker who is plucked from his ordinary life and put into a fantasy world where he must save the village and rescue the princess.

There is no word on whether or not Columbia has offered the director’s chair to Raimi for this high-profile, big-budget project.

But if Raimi doesn’t return to “Spider-Man 4,” the series could loose its leading lady as well. Actress Kirsten Dunst has said that her return to the franchise is contingent upon Raimi’s direction and the return of co-star Toby McGuire as “Peter Parker/Spider-Man.”

“It’s disrespectful to the whole team, I think, to do that,” said Dunst. “And, audiences aren’t stupid. It’d be a big flop without me, Tobey, or Sam. That would really not be the smartest move. But they know that already. [Sony chief] Amy Pascal would never do that.”

McGuire has flip-flopped on whether or not he’d return to the franchise. A few weeks ago, he seemed to be leaving the door open to coming back, but earlier this week, comments that he was leaving surfaced. An early front-runner to replace McGuire should he exit the franchise is Joseph-Gordon Levitt.

But no matter who is in front of or behind the camera, there will be a fourth Spider-Man installment, according to Sony.

“Listen, we’re making Spider-Man 4. Our hope, dream and intention is to do it with Sam. But I don’t have a crystal ball,” said Sony president of production, Matt Tomlach.