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At this point, almost every fan of the comic book Spider-Man has seen the ultra-cool trailer to the highly anticipated big screen adaptation--marveling at how Spider-Man weaves a giant web between two skyscrapers.
The twin towers of the World Trade Center, to be exact.
Now, in light of the horrible tragedy in New York City, this image invokes only tremendous despair and sadness. In response to this inevitable fact, Jeff Blake, President of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Columbia Motion Picture Group, has officially removed all Spider-Man movie trailers from exhibitors, distribution houses and Web sites. In addition, all movie posters and images of the poster, in which Spider-Man is featured peeking around the corner of a tall building with the WTC reflected in his eyes, have been pulled. They will be revised and re-released.The imagery used was created specifically for the trailer and does not re-create a scene from the film, which is due for release in May 2002, according to a spokesperson at Columbia.
This latest hitch in the saga of bringing Spider-Man to the big screen follows a growing list of problems that have plagued the set from the beginning. The highly anticipated film, the first big-screen adaptation of Marvel Comics' famed superhero, has taken several years to get into production, with a legal battle over rights and changing of hands in the talent department, hindering the film's start. At one point, James Cameron was slated to direct.
It finally got rolling this past January, with Sam Raimi at the helm. Tobey Maguire (Wonder Boys) stars as Peter Parker, the nebbish youngster who, after receiving a bite from a radioactive spider, is able to stick to walls and fight bad guys. Willem Dafoe, (Shadow of the Vampire), dons makeup and ghoulishness playing the arch-nemesis Green Goblin. Kirsten Dunst (crazy/beautiful) plays Mary Jane Watson, Parker's next-door-neighbor and love interest.
Then, in March, a construction worker died on the set while working with a crew to re-create the top two floors of a 1930s-style building. A crane hauling a large metal case suddenly fell over on its side and the metal case hit the man in the head, killing him instantly.
In April, Maguire's stunt double, Zack Hudson, reportedly fractured his leg while performing one of the hair-raising Spidey maneuvers. Instead of skimming along a brick structure, Hudson smashed into the wall. Then, in the same week, four red-and-black Spider-Man costumes went missing from the Sony Pictures Studios lot.
And now tragedy strikes in New York. Even if the trailer is not specific to the movie itself, the story is set in the Big Apple so no doubt the wonderful New York skyline, with the WTC prominently featured, will appear in the film.
Sadly, we will be reminded of this horrible loss again and again as we watch the many movies that have been filmed in New York City.