The Hiring, Firing and Re-Hiring of Spider-Man

Obiwan Kenobi writes "Remember that rumor that Tobey McGuire was fired and Jake Gyllenhaal was going to be Spider-Man? Well, it's true. According to the LA Times, McGuire's unwillingness to reveal the extent of his back injuries from his last project (Seabiscuit) resulted in a huge power struggle that incurred the wrath of Universal president Ron Meyer (whose daughter is 'coincidentally' dating McGuire), a pissed off Sam Raimi, and a now-fired agent. Interesting read about the politics of making a big budget blockbuster." Really just a gossipy story frankly, but McGuire seems to be in for the sequel despite the back problems.

Comments

Jake Gyllenhaal would do a better job

[aSiTiC]

Never been a huge fan of McGuire. Jake Gyllenhaal is a much superior actor and also a little darker and more interesting. I'm probably in the minority and Jake doesn't fit with pop culture like McGuire does but it would have been cool.

Anyone ever see Donnie Darko??? That's about all you need to say about Jake Gyllenhaal.

Besides the fact that it runs in the family Maggie Gyllenhaal was amazing in Secretary.

Re:Interesting Article.

[jedidiah]

This has nothing to do with having a big head. He was working 80 hours a week for another employer when Rami and company started to get their panties in a bunch.

Let's see you bow and scrape to your next contract when you're trying to "give 100%" to your current one.

Re:Not worth it to change actors

[default luser]

Bond is replaceable because Bond is not the man. Bond is the style. We see the face all the time, and yet all we remember are the well-tailored grey suits, sporty cars and Walther PPK. All you need is a suave man to wear that suit, drive that car and fire that weapon.

Batman is not replaceable because Batman ( as portrayed in the 80s/90s ) is the man behind the mask. This is why it was so important to have someone who could actually act, and why people really missed Michael Keaton in III and IV. He was fairly good at the role, and people became attached to his personal emotional stigma.

You'll find the same thing has happened with Spiderman. The geek-out-of-water persona really gave Peter Parker as a person a lot more depth than people were expecting. But that depth is forever attached to Tobey, it will be lost if you switch actors.