Deadline Hollywood broke the news early that due to constant fights and arguments about the script which led to a delay in production, Sony decided to pull the plug entirely on the project. This led to the departure of the director Sam Raimi who was followed by everyone in the cast including Tobey Maguire.

Now Sony has quickly announced plans for a reboot of the franchise in summer 2012. This time, the setting will be high school as Peter Parker returns there. An all new cast and director will helm the film based on a script by James Vanderbilt. What the hell were they thinking?

An official press release with more details and my thoughts after the jump.

Along with the biggest, this is bound to be the stupidest mistake a studio makes this year. Reasons for a reboot usually include:

1. They want to bring the franchise to a new audience – The last Spider-Man came out in 2007. Which is 2 years ago. What were they thinking when they decided to reboot a franchise still so fresh in everyone’s mind that it is near impossible to imagine anyone other than Tobey Maguire in the role of Spider-Man? Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane? This is a fatal mistake in my opinion and something that Sony is not realizing at the moment.
2. The last one didn’t do well – ‘Hulk’ and ‘Fantastic Four’ can use this excuse. But ‘Spider-Man 3′ earned $890 million worldwide, had one of the biggest weekend openings of all time and was a huge earner of the year. Sure, it wasn’t as good as the previous ones but people accepted the film and it was big. Why do they have to take something that was working perfectly fine and experiment with it by not only replacing all major cast members and the director, but also going back in the plotline and confusing everyone?

Sam Raimi was a brilliant director for the series and this move is clearly due to the fact that Raimi refused to compromise for this film, something which he was forced to do with Spider-Man 3. Now they will look for a director who will pony up to anything they say and a cast on the cheap. This is the perfect example of the studio ruining a blockbuster franchise and it is safe to say that come 2012, only a stand-out reboot like ‘Batman Begins’ can salvage this decision (which is unlikely to happen).

Press release:

Culver City, CA (January 11, 2010) — Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012. Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises.

The new chapter in the Spider-Man franchise produced by Columbia, Marvel Studios and Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will have a new cast and filmmaking team. Spider-Man 4 was to have been released in 2011, but had not yet gone into production.

“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. Peter Parker as an ordinary young adult grappling with extraordinary powers has always been the foundation that has made this character so timeless and compelling for generations of fans. We’re very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter’s roots and we look forward to working once again with Marvel Studios, Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin on this new beginning,” said Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

“Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job,” said Sam Raimi.

“We have had a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration and friendship with Sam and Tobey and they have given us their best for the better part of the last decade.This is a bittersweet moment for us because while it is hard to imagine Spider-Man in anyone else’s hands, I know that this was a day that was inevitable,” said Matt Tolmach, president of Columbia Pictures, who has served as the studio’s chief production executive since the beginning of the franchise. “Now everything begins anew, and that’s got us all tremendously excited about what comes next. Under the continuing supervision of Avi and Laura, we have a clear vision for the future of Spider-Man and can’t wait to share this exciting new direction with audiences in 2012.”

“Spider-Man will always be an important franchise for Sony Pictures and a fresh start like this is a responsibility that we all take very seriously,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures. “We have always believed that story comes first and story guides the direction of these films and as we move onto the next chapter, we will stay true to that principle and will do so with the highest respect for the source material and the fans and moviegoers who deserve nothing but the best when it comes to bringing these stories and characters to life on the big screen.”

The studio will have more news about Spider-Man in 2012 in the coming weeks as it prepares for production of the film.

Deadline Hollywood reports that the culprit here is the script. More specifically, Sam Raimi still doesn’t like the script that he’s working with and there is apparent clash between Sony and Raimi over the villain of the film. Also, Anne Hathaway won’t be playing Black Cat anymore due to a high salary demand. In short, the movie is nowhere near ready to be made even though the script has been run through by talented screenwriters like Jamie Vanderbilt, David Lindsay-Abaire, and Gary Ross.

If it doesn’t make the May release date, it would have to release somewhere in July since the rest of the schedule is jam-packed with the likes of Harry Potter, Transformers etc. And of course, Sony really needs a tentpole film for the year since it’s no surprise that Spidey films are huge earners globally. But they rather not try to stuff too many villains into the film a la Spider-Man 3 and instead work out the story issues and release a much better film.

I would love The Lizard or Mysterio to be the villains. Just saying.