One of the most noted news stories of the last few years was Sam Raimi's departure from the "Spiderman" series. A number of stories surrounded the breakup between Raimi and Sony, but the director had never made a statement on the story. Until now.
In a recent interview, Raimi revealed the reasons why he left the franchise.
"It really was the most amicable and undramatic of breakups: It was simply that we had a deadline and I couldn't get the story to work on a level that I wanted it to work. I was very unhappy with Spider-Man 3, and I wanted to make Spider-Man 4 to end on a very high note, the best Spider-Man of them all," said Raimi. "But I couldn't get the script together in time, due to my own failings, and I said to Sony, 'I don't want to make a movie that is less than great, so I think we shouldn't make this picture. Go ahead with your reboot, which you've been planning anyway.'"
He added, "And [Sony co-chairman] Amy Pascal said, 'Thank you. Thank you for not wasting the studio's money, and I appreciate your candor.' So we left on the best of terms, both of us trying to do the best thing for fans, the good name of Spider-Man, and Sony Studios."
"Spiderman 3" opened in 2007 to negative reviews with most critics feeling that the film was over-stuffed with villains that ultimately lacked development.
During the interview, Raimi also confirmed that he had sought out Anne Hathaway for the role of Felicia Hardy/Black Cat; Hathaway eventually played a Feline character in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises."
Raimi's latest film "Oz: The Great and Powerful" will open Friday March 8. He is also slated to direct "Poltergeist."
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