Squashed (and Hammered).

“A decade ago we set out on this journey with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire and together we made three ‘Spider-Man’ films that set a new bar for the genre. When we began, no one ever imagined that we would make history at the box-office and now we have a rare opportunity to make history once again with this franchise.“

Um, ok. Apparently as a result of continuing tensions between Sam Raimi (still gunshy after being forced to include Venom in Spiderman 3) and the studio suits (who wanted him to move ahead anyway), Sony puts the kibosh on Spiderman 4 and sends Raimi, Maguire, et al on their way. Next up is a reboot, scripted by Zodiac‘s James Vanderbilt and slated for 2012. (Here’s a tip — Don’t give the Green Goblin a cruddy mask this time.)

Also, in much less interesting Marvel firing news, Stuart Townsend is out as Fandral in Kenneth Branagh’s Thor, and has been replaced by Joshua Dallas of the forthcoming Red Tails and The Descent 2. Hmm…Perhaps he was still bitter about the whole Aragorn thing.

The Might of Asgard and the New Day Co-Op.

Casting continues to fill out for Kenneth Branagh’s Thor: Apparently Idris Elba will play Heimdall (Asgard’s bouncer, basically), and Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevenson, and Tadanobu Asano have signed up as Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun respectively (Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg.) Stringer Bell and the Warriors Three join Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Jaime Alexander, Colm Feore, Anthony Hopkins, and Stellan Skarsgaard.

One Man’s Heaven.

A doctrinal schism in Wellington? Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones goes on filming hiatus while PJ and his art director clash over their respective visions of Heaven. (Somewhere, Howard Shore nods ruefully.) Earlier, the project was stalled by Ryan Gosling leaving over “creative differences” the day before shooting, to be replaced by Mark Wahlberg (a la Stuart Townsend and Viggo Mortensen.) Take note, Mr. del Toro, before you rush to embrace animatronics…

Balloon Man / Captain Cambridge’s Mandolin.

In the movie bin this Friday, Rhys Ifans goes psycho (while Samantha Morton, surprisingly enough, plays normal) in the trailer for Enduring Love, while Stuart Townsend must decide among Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz, and fighting Hitler in Head in the Clouds (Thomas Kretschmann had better watch out…or he’ll soon be typecast as the friendly Nazi.)

Subordinary.

Hello all…back from Toronto (Seemed like a great town…wish I’d had more time to look around) with nary a muscle ache or fever. Also caught The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen this evening. I didn’t find it as terrible as all the reviews made it out to be, but Lord knows it’s pretty bad. I suspect that even if the screenwriters had attempted something closer to Alan Moore’s work, Sean Connery would still kill the movie with his awful Sean Connery impression. And the story, as Ebert notes, is absolutely nonsensical. Peta Wilson, Richard Roxburgh, Jason Flemyng, and Stuart Townsend all acquit themselves well, I suppose, although the latter reminded me once again of why he would’ve made a lousy Aragorn. And as for Tom Sawyer…well, the less said the better. To be honest, I expected much more of Stephen Norrington after Blade. All in all, I’d say skip it.