Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay by Raimi, his older brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent. It is the third and final installment in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy. The film stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, alongside Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, James Cromwell, Rosemary Harris, and J. K. Simmons. Set shortly after the events of Spider-Man 2, as Peter Parker prepares his future with Mary Jane Watson, he bonds with an extraterrestrial symbiote, bringing out his anger while facing three villains: Uncle Ben's true killer, Flint Marko, who becomes the Sandman after a freak accident; Harry Osborn, who seeks to avenge his father; and Eddie Brock, a rival photographer who becomes Venom after acquiring Peter's symbiote.

This article is about the 2007 film. For the untitled Tom Holland Spider-Man sequel, see Spider-Man: Far From Home § Sequel.

Spider-Man 3
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySam Raimi
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Sam Raimi
  • Ivan Raimi
Based on
Starring
Music byChristopher Young
CinematographyBill Pope
Edited byBob Murawski
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing[1]
Release date
Running time
139 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$258–350 million[4][5][6]
Box office$895 million[7]

Development of Spider-Man 3 began immediately after the release of Spider-Man 2 for a 2007 release. During pre-production, Raimi originally wanted another villain to be included along with Sandman. At the request of producer Avi Arad, he added Venom and the producers also requested the addition of Gwen Stacy. Principal photography for the film began in January 2006, and took place in Los Angeles and Cleveland before moving to New York City from May until July 2006. Additional pick-up shots were made after August and the film wrapped in October 2006. During post-production, Sony Pictures Imageworks created over 900 visual effects shots. With an estimated production budget of $258–350 million, it was the most expensive film ever made at the time of its release.

Spider-Man 3 premiered on April 16, 2007, in Tokyo, and was released in the United States in both conventional and IMAX theaters on May 4, 2007. The film grossed $890.9 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of the trilogy, the third-highest-grossing film of 2007 and was the highest-grossing Spider-Man film until it was surpassed by Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019. Unlike the previous installments, Spider-Man 3 received a mixed reception from critics, who praised the performances, visual effects and action sequences, but criticized the overloaded storylines and subplots and overabundance of villains, most notably Venom. The majority of these issues were later attributed to studio interferences and creative differences between Sony, Raimi and Arad.

A fourth installment, titled Spider-Man 4, was set to be released on May 6, 2011, followed by a Venom spin-off film, but both were cancelled due to Raimi's withdrawal over creative differences with the writers and producers. The Spider-Man film series was rebooted twice; first with The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield; and later a new film series set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland, beginning with Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). The Venom spin-off was revived in 2016 by Sony and was finally released in 2018 with Venom, set within Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters and directed by Ruben Fleischer.

Plot

One year after Dr. Octopus met his demise, Peter Parker plans to propose to Mary Jane Watson, who just made her Broadway musical debut. Later, a meteorite lands at Central Park, and an extraterrestrial symbiote follows Peter to his apartment. Harry Osborn, seeking vengeance after his father's death and having taken the performance-enhancing gas, attacks Peter with his father's Green Goblin technology, but the battle ends in a stalemate with Harry crashing out and having amnesia, wiping out his memory of Peter as Spider-Man. Meanwhile, police pursue escaped convict Flint Marko, who visits his wife and sick daughter before fleeing again. Falling into an experimental particle accelerator that fuses his DNA with the surrounding sand, he transforms into the Sandman, who can control sand and reform his body with it.

During a festival honoring Spider-Man for saving Gwen Stacy's life, he kisses Gwen, infuriating Mary Jane. Meanwhile, Marko robs an armored truck, subduing Spider-Man while escaping. NYPD Captain George Stacy, Gwen's father, informs Peter and his aunt May that Marko was the true killer of uncle Ben; the deceased Dennis Carradine had been Marko's accomplice. At his apartment, while Peter sleeps in his Spider-Man suit to wait for Flint, the symbiote assimilates the suit; Peter later awakens atop a building, discovering that his costume has changed and his powers are enhanced; however, the symbiote brings out Peter's dark side. Peter locates Marko and battles him in a subway tunnel. Discovering that water is Marko's weakness, Spider-Man opens a pipe, releasing water that reduces Marko to mud and washes him away.

Peter's changed personality alienates Mary Jane, whose career is floundering after she has been fired from her show. She shares a tender moment with Harry, but leaves afterward in regret. Harry recovers from his amnesia, urged by a hallucination of his father and blackmails Mary Jane into breaking up with Peter. After Mary Jane tells Peter she loves "somebody else," Harry meets with Peter and claims to be that person. Peter confronts Harry over this and spitefully tells him that his father never loved him. Another battle ensues, with Harry throwing a pumpkin bomb at Peter, who deflects it back, disfiguring Harry's face.

At the Daily Bugle, Peter exposes rival photographer Eddie Brock, whose fake photos depict Spider-Man as a criminal. Publisher J. Jonah Jameson fires Brock and hires Peter to be a staff photographer. Later, Peter brings Gwen to a jazz club, where Mary Jane now works. Realizing this, Gwen leaves the club while Peter assaults the bouncers and accidentally hits Mary Jane. Peter realizes that the symbiote is corrupting him and retreats to a church's bell tower where, upon realizing high-pitched sounds weakens the creature, he removes the symbiote. The symbiote bonds with Brock, transforming him into Venom. Brock locates Marko, who survived being washed away, and convinces him to join forces to defeat Spider-Man.

Brock kidnaps Mary Jane and holds her hostage from a web high at a construction site, while Marko keeps police at bay. After Harry refuses to help Peter, he finally learns the truth about his father's death from his butler. While Peter battles Brock and Marko, Harry arrives to help him with his Green Goblin technology. Brock attempts to impale Peter with Harry's glider, but Harry jumps in and is impaled himself. Remembering the symbiote's weakness, Peter assembles a perimeter of metal pipes to create a sonic attack, weakening it and allowing Peter to separate Brock from the symbiote. He activates a pumpkin bomb from Harry's glider and throws it at the symbiote. However, Brock, who became addicted to the symbiote's influence, leaps into the symbiote in an attempt to save it, and is vaporized along with the symbiote.

Afterward, Marko explains that Ben's death was an accident that has haunted Marko ever since. Peter forgives him, and Marko peacefully drifts away. Harry and Peter reconcile before Harry subsequently dies from his injuries. Following Harry's funeral, Peter and Mary Jane reconcile and share a dance.

Cast
  • Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A superhero, a brilliant physics student at Columbia University, and photographer for the Daily Bugle. As he grows arrogant with the city starting to embrace him for the first time in his career, an alien symbiote attaches itself to Peter's costume and influences his behavior for the worse. Maguire said he relished the opportunity to play a less timid Peter in this film.[8]
  • Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson: Peter Parker's girlfriend and a Broadway actress, whom he has loved since childhood. Mary Jane has a string of bad luck in the film, reminiscent of Peter's misfortune in Spider-Man 2, losing her job because of bad reviews and losing her boyfriend when the symbiote takes him over.[8]
  • James Franco as Harry Osborn / New Goblin: The son of Norman Osborn and Peter Parker's best friend, who believes Spider-Man murdered his father. After learning Peter is Spider-Man and that Norman was the Green Goblin, Harry becomes the New Goblin to battle his former friend directly.
"Villains with a conscience have this sad realization of who they are, and the monster they've become — there's a sense of regret. So at the end of these movies there's a dramatic resonance that really stays with the audience."
—Thomas Haden Church on Sandman[9]
  • Thomas Haden Church as Flint Marko / Sandman: A small-time thug who has a wife and sick daughter, for whom he steals money to help get the treatment to cure her. He transforms into the Sandman following a freak accident, and incurs Peter's wrath when Peter learns he was his Uncle Ben's true killer. Church was approached for Sandman because of his award-winning performance in the film Sideways,[10] and accepted the role despite the lack of a script at the time. The film's Sandman possesses sympathy similarly exhibited by Lon Chaney in his portrayals of misunderstood creatures, as well as Frankenstein's monster, the Golem,[11] and Andy Serkis's portrayals of Gollum and King Kong.[9] Church worked out for sixteen months to improve his physique for the role,[12] gaining 28 pounds of muscle and losing ten pounds of fat.[13]
  • Topher Grace as Eddie Brock / Venom: Peter's rival at the Daily Bugle. He is exposed by Peter for creating a fake incriminating image of Spider-Man, and leaps at the opportunity to exact his revenge when he bonds with an extraterrestrial symbiote. Grace had impressed the producers with his performance in the film In Good Company. A big comic book fan who read the first Venom stories as a boy,[12] Grace spent six months working out to prepare for the role, gaining twenty-four pounds of muscle.[14] He approached the character as someone under the influence, similar to an alcoholic or drug addict,[15] and interpreted him as having a bad childhood, which is the key difference between him and Peter.[16] Grace found his costume unpleasant, as it had to be constantly smeared to give a liquid-like feel. The costume took an hour to put on, though prosthetics took four hours to apply. Grace also wore fangs, which bruised his gums.[17]
  • Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy: Peter's lab partner. He asks her out to embarrass Mary Jane when possessed by the symbiote. Howard said the challenge of playing the role was in reminding many fans of the good-natured character who was Peter's first love in the comics, yet was "the other woman" in the film. Howard strived to create a sense that Gwen could potentially be a future girlfriend for him, and that, "I was not acting like some kind of man-stealing tart."[18] Howard performed many of her stunts, unaware of the fact she was several months pregnant.[8]
  • James Cromwell as Captain George Stacy: Gwen's father and a New York City Police Department Captain.
  • Rosemary Harris as May Parker: The aunt of Peter Parker and the widow of Ben Parker, Peter's uncle. She gives Peter her engagement ring so he can propose to Mary Jane, and gives him lessons in forgiveness.
  • J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson: The aggressive chief of the Daily Bugle. He has a particular dislike towards Spider-Man, whom he considers a criminal.

Several actors reprise their roles from the previous films. Dylan Baker portrays Dr. Curt Connors, a college physics professor under whom Peter Parker studies, while Willem Dafoe portrays Norman Osborn / Green Goblin, Harry's late father, who returns as a hallucination to encourage his son to destroy Spider-Man, and Cliff Robertson appears as Ben Parker, Peter's deceased uncle in his final acting appearance before his death in 2011. Bill Nunn, Ted Raimi, Michael Papajohn, John Paxton and Elizabeth Banks return as Joseph "Robbie" Robertson, a longtime employee at the Daily Bugle, Ted Hoffman, also a longtime employee of the Daily Bugle, Dennis Carradine, the carjacker who was believed to have murdered Uncle Ben, Bernard Houseman, butler to the Osborn family and Betty Brant, the receptionist at the Daily Bugle for J. Jonah Jameson, respectively. Elya Baskin additionally reprises his role as Mr. Ditkovitch, Peter's landlord while Mageina Tovah reprises her role as his daughter Ursula. Joe Manganiello reprises his role as Flash Thompson from the first film in a cameo appearance.

Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee has a cameo in Spider-Man 3, as he did in the previous Spider-Man films, which he referred to as his "best cameo".[19] Actor Bruce Campbell, who had cameo roles as a wrestling ring announcer in Spider-Man and as a rude usher in Spider-Man 2, returns in Spider-Man 3 with a new cameo as a French maître d'. Originally his character, who helps Peter try to propose, was much more antagonistic. Composer Christopher Young appears in the film as a pianist at Mary Jane's theater when she is fired, while producer Grant Curtis cameoed as the driver of an armored car that Sandman attacks.[20] Comedian Dean Edwards played one of the newspaper readers who badmouth Spider-Man. 75-year-old newscaster Hal Fishman appears as himself anchoring the saga of Mary Jane's kidnapping by Venom; he died just fourteen weeks after the movie opened. Actress Lucy Gordon appeared as newscaster Jennifer Dugan.

Production

Development
"The most important thing Peter right now has to learn is that this whole concept of him as the avenger or him as the hero, he wears this red and blue outfit, with each criminal he brings to justice he's trying to pay down this debt of guilt he feels about the death of Uncle Ben. He considers himself a hero and a sinless person versus these villains that he nabs. We felt it would be a great thing for him to learn a little less black and white view of life and that he's not above these people."

—Sam Raimi, on how the character of Peter Parker developed in this film[21]

In March 2004, with Spider-Man 2 being released the coming June, Sony had begun developing Spider-Man 3 for a release in summer 2007.[22] By the release of Spider-Man 2, a release date for Spider-Man 3 had been set for May 2, 2007 before production on the sequel had begun.[23] The date was later changed to May 4, 2007. In January 2005, Sony Pictures completed a seven-figure deal with screenwriter Alvin Sargent, who had penned Spider-Man 2, to script Spider-Man 3 with an option to script a fourth film.[24]

Immediately after Spider-Man 2's release, Ivan Raimi wrote a treatment over two months,[8] with Sam Raimi deciding to use the film to explore Peter learning that he is not a sinless vigilante, and that there also can be humanity in those he considers criminals.[21] Harry Osborn was brought back as Raimi wanted to conclude his storyline.[21] Raimi felt that Harry would not follow his father's legacy, but be instead "somewhere between."[25] Sandman was introduced as an antagonist, as Raimi found him a visually fascinating character.[21] While Sandman is a petty criminal in the comics, the screenwriters created a background of the character being Uncle Ben's killer to increase Peter's guilt over his death[26] and challenge his simplistic perception of the event.[21] Overall, Raimi described the film as being about Peter, Mary Jane, Harry, and the Sandman,[27] with Peter's journey being one of forgiveness.[15]

Raimi wanted another villain, and Ben Kingsley was involved in negotiations to play the Vulture before the character was cut.[8] Producer Avi Arad convinced Raimi to include Venom, a character whose perceived "lack of humanity" had initially been criticized by Sam Raimi.[16] Venom's alter-ego, Eddie Brock, already had a minor role in the script.[28] Arad felt the series had relied too much on Raimi's personal favorite Spider-Man villains, not characters that modern fans were actually interested in, so Raimi included Venom to please them,[27] and even began to appreciate the character himself.[16] The film's version of the character is an amalgamation of Venom stories. Eddie Brock, Jr., the human part of Venom, serves as a mirror to Peter Parker, with both characters having similar jobs and romantic interests.[16] Brock's actions as a journalist in Spider-Man 3 also represent contemporary themes of paparazzi and tabloid journalism.[9] The producers also suggested adding rival love interest Gwen Stacy, filling in an "other girl" type that Raimi already created.[27] With so many additions, Sargent soon found his script so complex that he considered splitting it into two films, but abandoned the idea when he could not create a successful intermediate climax.[8]

Filming

Camera crews spent 2 weeks from November 5–18, 2005 to film sequences that would involve intense visual effects so Sony Pictures Imageworks could begin work on the shots early in the project. The same steps had been taken for Spider-Man 2 to begin producing visual effects early for sequences involving the villain Doctor Octopus.[29]

Principal photography for Spider-Man 3 began on January 16, 2006 and wrapped in July 2006 after over 100 days of filming. The team filmed in Los Angeles until May 19, 2006.[29] In spring 2006, film location manager Peter Martorano brought camera crews to Cleveland[30] due to the Greater Cleveland Film Commission offering production space at the city's convention center at no cost.[31] In Cleveland, they shot the battle between Spider-Man and Sandman in the armored car.[8] Afterwards, the team moved to Manhattan, where filming took place at various locations, including One Chase Manhattan Plaza, from May 26, 2006 until July 1, 2006.[29] Shooting placed a strain on Raimi, who often had to move between several units to complete the picture.[8] Shooting was also difficult for cinematographer Bill Pope, as the symbiote Spider-Man, Venom, and the New Goblin were costumed in black during fight scenes taking place at night.[32]

After August, pick-ups were conducted as Raimi sought to film more action scenes.[33] The film then wrapped in October, although additional special effects shots were taken to finalize the production a month later.[34] In early 2007, there were further pick-up shots regarding the resolution of Sandman's story, amounting to four different versions.[11]

Visual effects
Spider-Man throws a computer-generated punch through the chest of Sandman, portrayed by Thomas Haden Church.

John Dykstra, who won the Academy Award for Visual Effects for his work on Spider-Man 2, declined to work on the third film as visual effects supervisor. Dykstra's colleague, Scott Stokdyk, took his place as supervisor,[35] leading two hundred programmers at Sony Pictures Imageworks. This group designed specific computer programs that did not exist when Spider-Man 3 began production, creating nine hundred visual effects shots.[36]

Concept art of the Venom suit, which possesses a webbing motif, unlike the comics, in order to show the symbiote's control and represent the character as a twisted foil to Spider-Man.

In addition to the innovative visual effects for the film, Stokdyk created a miniature of a skyscraper section at 1:16 scale with New Deal Studios's Ian Hunter and David Sanger. Stokdyk chose to design the miniature instead of using computer-generated imagery so damage done to the building could be portrayed realistically and timely without guesswork involving computer models.[37] In addition to Sony Pictures Imageworks, Cafe FX provided visual effects for the crane disaster scene when Spider-Man rescues Gwen Stacy, as well as shots in the climactic battle.[38] To understand the effects of sand for the Sandman, experiments were done with twelve types of sand, such as splashing, launching it at stuntmen, and pouring it over ledges. The results were mimicked on the computer to create the visual effects for Sandman.[36] For scenes involving visual effects, Thomas Haden Church was super-imposed onto the screen, where computer-generated imagery was then applied.[39] With sand as a possible hazard in scenes that buried actors, ground-up corncobs were used as a substitute instead.[40] Because of its resemblance to the substance, sand from Arizona was used as the model for the CG sand.[36] In a fight where Spider-Man punches through Sandman's chest, amputee martial arts expert Baxter Humby took Tobey Maguire's place in filming the scene. Humby, whose right hand was amputated at birth, helped deliver the intended effect of punching through Sandman's chest.[41]

Whereas the symbiote suit worn in the comics by Spider-Man was a plain black affair with a large white spider on the front and back, the design was changed for the film to become a black version of Spider-Man's traditional costume, complete with webbing motif. As a consequence of this, the suit Topher Grace wore as Venom also bore the webbing motif; as producer Grant Curtis noted, "it's the Spider-Man suit, but twisted and mangled in its own right."[42] Additionally, the motif gave a sense of life to the symbiote, giving it the appearance of gripping onto the character's body.[43] When animating the symbiote, Raimi did not want it to resemble a spider or an octopus, and to give it a sense of character. The CG model is made of many separate strands.[44] When animating Venom himself, animators observed footage of big cats such as lions and cheetahs for the character's agile movements.[45]

Music
Main article: Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man 3

Originally, Danny Elfman, the composer for the previous installments, did not plan to return for the third installment of Spider-Man because of difficulties with director Sam Raimi. Elfman said that he had a "miserable experience" working with Raimi on Spider-Man 2 and could not comfortably adapt his music.[46] Christopher Young was then announced to score Spider-Man 3 in Elfman's absence.[47]

According to Young, Sandman's theme uses "two contrabass saxophones, two contrabass clarinets, two contrabass bassoons and eight very low French horns" in order to sound "low, aggressive and heavy". Young described Venom's theme as "Vicious, my instructions on that one were that he's the devil personified. His theme is much more demonic sounding."[48] Venom's theme uses eight French horns.[49] Raimi approved the new themes during their first performance, but rejected the initial music to the birth of Sandman, finding it too monstrous and not tragic enough. Young had to recompose much of his score at a later stage, as the producers felt there were not enough themes from the previous films.[48] Ultimately, new themes for the love story, Aunt May, and Mary Jane were dropped.[49]

Release
Tobey Maguire greets fans at the premiere in Queens, New York.

Spider-Man 3 had its world premiere at Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills in Tokyo on April 16, 2007.[50][51] The film held its UK premiere on April 23, 2007 at the Odeon Leicester Square,[52] and the U.S. premiere took place at the Tribeca Film Festival in Queens on April 30, 2007.[53]

Spider-Man 3 was commercially released in sixteen territories on May 1, 2007.[54] The film was released in Japan on May 1, 2007, three days prior to the American commercial release, to coincide with Japan's Golden Week.[50] Spider-Man 3 was also released in China on May 3, 2007 to circumvent market growth of unlicensed copies of the film. The studio's release of a film in China before its domestic release was a first for Sony Pictures Releasing International.[55] By May 6, 2007, Spider-Man 3 opened in 107 countries around the world.[54]

The film was commercially released in the United States on May 4, 2007 in a North American record total of 4,253 theaters,[56] including fifty-three IMAX theaters.[57] The record number of theaters was later beaten by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which was released in 4,362 theaters in the United States—109 more than Spider-Man 3.[58] Tracking data a month before the U.S. release reflected over 90% awareness and over 20% first choice among moviegoers, statistics that estimated an opening weekend of over $100 million for Spider-Man 3.[59] Online tickets for Spider-Man 3 were reported on April 23, 2007 to have been purchased at a faster rate—three times at Movietickets.com and four times at Fandango—than online ticket sales for Spider-Man 2.[60] On May 2, 2007, Fandango reported the sales rate as six times greater than the rate for Spider-Man 2. The strong ticket sales caused theaters to add 3:00 AM showings following the May 4, 2007 midnight showing to accommodate the demand.[61]

The FX channel signed a five-year deal for the television rights to Spider-Man 3, which they began airing in 2009. The price was based on the film's box office performance, with an option for three opportunities for Sony to sell the rights to one or more other broadcast networks.[62]

Marketing
Further information: Spider-Man 3 (video game) and Spider-Man 3 (soundtrack)

In New York City, the hometown of Spider-Man's fictional universe, tourist attractions arranged events and exhibits on April 30, 2007 to lead up to the release of Spider-Man 3. The unique campaign include a spider exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, workshops on baby spider plants at the New York Botanical Garden, Green Goblin mask-making workshop at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, and a scavenger hunt and a bug show at Central Park Zoo.[63]

Hasbro, which holds the license for Marvel characters, released several toys to tie-in with the film. They include a deluxe spinning web blaster, along with several lines of action figures aimed at both children and collectors.[64] Toys of the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus from the first two films have been re-released to match the smaller scale of the new figures, as have been toys of the Lizard, the Scorpion, Kraven the Hunter, and Rhino in a style reminiscent of the films.[65][66] Techno Source created interactive toys, including a "hand-held Battle Tronics device that straps to the inside of a player's wrist and mimics Spidey's web-slinging motions".[67] Japanese Medicom Toy Corporation produced collectables, which Sideshow Collectibles distributed in the U.S.[68]

Home video

Spider-Man 3 was released on Region 4 DVD (anamorphic widescreen) in Australia on September 18, 2007.[69] For Region 2 in the United Kingdom, the film was released on October 15, 2007.[70] Spider-Man 3 was released on DVD in Region 1 territories on October 30, 2007. The film is available in one-disc and two-disc editions, on both standard and Blu-ray formats, as well as packages with the previous films and a PSP release.[71] Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad, and Grant Curtis are among those who contributed to the audio commentaries.

Sony announced plans to create "one of the largest" marketing campaigns in Hollywood for the October 30, 2007 release of the DVD. Beginning with a partnership with Papa John's, Sony printed close to 8.5 billion impressions for pizza boxes, television, radio, and online ads. Sony also worked with Pringles Potato Crisp, Blu Tack, Jolly Time Pop Corn, and Nutella. Sony's Vice President of Marketing, Jennifer Anderson, stated the studio spent approximately 15% to 25% of its marketing budget on digital ad campaigns; from this, Papa John's sent text messages to mobile phones with ads. Anderson stated that there would be three sweepstakes held for consumers, where they would be able to win prizes from Sony and its promotional partners.[72]

In the United States, the film grossed more than $125 million on DVD sales.[73] It also grossed more than $43.76 million on DVD/Home Video Rentals in 11 weeks.[74] However, the DVD sales results of this film did not meet industry expectations.[75] The film's DVD sales were limited due to Sony's decision to bundle the Blu-ray version of the film with its new PlayStation 3 game console and Blu-ray player.[76] Spider-Man 3 was included in The Spider-Man Legacy Collection which includes five major Spider-Man films in a 4K UHD Blu-Ray collection which was released on October 17, 2017.[77]

Spider-Man 3: Editor's Cut (2017)

In 2017, Sony released an "editor's cut" of Spider-Man 3 that coincided with the film's 10th anniversary, that is included with the Spider-Man: Origins Blu-ray collection on June 13, 2017. The film features unused music from Christopher Young and is two minutes shorter than the theatrical cut. Some scenes are shifted around or have been completely removed, and the film includes 3 new scenes, 3 alternate scenes, and 1 extended scene. Spider-Man 3: Editor's Cut was later re-released with the Spider-Man Legacy Collection 4K Blu-ray Box Set.[78]

Reception

Box office

Spider-Man 3 earned $336.5 million in North America and $554.3 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $890.9 million.[7] Worldwide, it is the third-highest-grossing film of 2007, the highest-grossing film of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and was the highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia until 2012's Skyfall.[79] The film set a worldwide single-day record ($104 million) on its first Friday and broke its own record again on Saturday ($117.6 million).[80][81] It also set a worldwide opening-weekend record with $381.7 million,.[81] The film's IMAX screenings reached $20 million in 30 days, faster than any other 2D film remastered in the format.[82]

In North America, Spider-Man 3 is the 58th-highest-grossing film, the third-highest-grossing film of the Spider-Man series, the third-highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia, and the highest-grossing 2007 film.[7][83][84] The film sold an estimated 48,914,300 tickets.[85] It was released in 4,252 theaters (about 10,300 screens) on Friday, May 4, 2007.[86] It set an opening- and single-day record with $59.8 million[80] (both were first surpassed by The Dark Knight). This included $10 million from midnight showings.[87] Spider-Man 3 then set an opening-weekend record with $151.1 million (first surpassed by The Dark Knight), a record for the weekend per-theater average with $35,540 per theater (first surpassed by Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert),[88] and an IMAX opening-weekend record with $4.8 million (first surpassed by The Dark Knight).[89][90] The film set record Friday[91] and Sunday grosses[92] and achieved the largest cumulative gross through its second, third, and fourth day of release (all were first surpassed by The Dark Knight).[93] It also set a record Saturday gross (surpassed by Marvel's The Avengers).[94]

Outside North America, it is the 23rd-highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing film of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and the third-highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia.[95] On its opening day (Tuesday, May 1, 2007), Spider-Man 3 grossed $29.2 million from 16 territories, an 86% increase from the intake of Spider-Man 2 on its first day of release. In 10 of the 16 territories, Spider-Man 3 set new opening-day records.[54] These territories are Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines,[56] France,[96] and Italy.[97] In Germany, the film surpassed the opening-day gross of Spider-Man 2.[96] During its six-day opening weekend (through its first Sunday), the film earned $230.5 million from 107 markets, finishing #1 in all of them.[81] Spider-Man 3 set opening-weekend records in 29 markets[81] including Italy, China, South Korea (the latter was first surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End),[98] India, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Peru. However, many of these records were achieved thanks to its six-day opening, while previous record-holders in some countries opened over the traditional three-day weekend (traditional two-, four-, or five-day weekend in other countries). In India, it grossed $16.4 million and was the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2007 there.[99][100] Spider-Man 3 was in first place at the box office outside North America for three consecutive weekends.[101][102]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 63% approval rating based on 258 reviews, with an average rating of 6.23/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though there are more characters and plotlines, and the action sequences still dazzle, Spider-Man 3 nonetheless isn't quite as refined as the first two."[103] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[104] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[105]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times deplored the film's pacing as "mostly just plods" and said it lacked humor.[106] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film only 2 out of 4 stars, feeling, "for every slam-bang action sequence, there are far too many sluggish scenes."[107] David Edelstein of New York magazine misses the "centrifugal threat" of Alfred Molina's character, adding that "the three villains here don't add up to one Doc Ock"[108] (referring to Molina's portrayal of the character in Spider-Man 2). James Berardinelli felt director Sam Raimi "overreached his grasp" by allowing so many villains, specifically saying, "Venom is one bad guy too many."[109] Roger Ebert, who gave Spider-Man 2 a glowing review,[110] gave the sequel 2 out of 4 stars and thought Church never expressed how Sandman felt about his new powers, something Molina, as Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2, did "with a vengeance"; he said the film was "a mess," with too many villains, subplots, romantic misunderstandings, conversations and "street crowds looking high into the air and shouting 'oooh!' this way, then swiveling and shouting 'aaah!' that way."[111] The New Yorker's Anthony Lane, who gave Spider-Man 2 a favorable review,[112] gave the film a negative review, characterizing the film as a "shambles" which "makes the rules up as it goes along."[113]

Roger Friedman of Fox News called the film a "4-star opera", noting that while long, there was plenty of humor and action.[114] Andy Khouri of Comic Book Resources praised the film as "easily the most complex and deftly orchestrated superhero epic ever filmed […] despite the enormous amount of characters, action and sci-fi superhero plot going on in this film, Spider-Man 3 never feels weighted down, tedious or boring."[115] Jonathan Ross, a big fan of the comic books, felt the film was the best of the trilogy.[116] Richard Corliss of Time commended the filmmakers for their ability to "dramatize feelings of angst and personal betrayal worthy of an Ingmar Bergman film, and then to dress them up in gaudy comic-book colors".[117] Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe, who gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, wrote that it was a well-made, fresh film, but would leave the viewer "overfulfilled".[118] Jonathan Dean of Total Film felt the film's complex plot helped the film's pacing, in that, "it rarely feels disjointed or loose […] Spider-Man cements its shelf-life."[119] Entertainment Weekly named the Sandman as the eighth best computer-generated film character.[120]

John Hartl of MSNBC gave Spider-Man 3 a positive review, but stated that it has some flaws such as having "too many storylines".[121] His opinion is echoed by Houston Chronicle's Amy Biancolli who complained that "the script is busy with so many supporting characters and plot detours that the series' charming idiosyncrasy is sometimes lost in the noise."[122] Jack Matthews of Daily News thought the film was too devoted to the "quiet conversations" of Peter and Mary Jane, but that fans would not be disappointed by the action.[123] Finally, Sean Burns of Philadelphia Weekly felt that the director "substituted scope and scale for the warmth and wit that made those two previous pictures so memorable."[124] Raimi himself would later call the film "awful" during a podcast interview.[125] Speaking to Screen Rant in 2018, Avi Arad also accepted responsibility for pushing Raimi to include Venom in the film, and how the end result had disappointed many fans of the character, saying "I think we learned that Venom is not a sideshow. In all fairness, I'll take the guilt because of what Sam Raimi used to say in all of these interviews feeling guilty that I forced him into it."[126]

Accolades
Main article: List of accolades received by the 2002–2007 Spider-Man film series

Both the 35th Annie Awards and 61st British Academy Film Awards gave this movie one nomination, the former for Best Animated Effects and the latter for Best Special Visual Effects. Spider-Man 3 did not win any of the four Visual Effects Society Awards nominations it received. Dunst's and Maguire's performances earned them each one nomination from the National Movie Awards. She also received another nomination for Favorite Movie Actress from the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards ceremony. The movie fared better at the Teen Choice Awards, amounting a total of seven nominations, varying from Choice Movie: Villain (for Grace) to Choice Movie: Dance (for Maguire) and Choice Movie: Liplock (shared between Dunst and Maguire).

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients Result
Annie Awards[127] February 8, 2008 Best Animated Effects Ryan Laney Nominated
British Academy Film Awards[128] February 10, 2008 Best Special Visual Effects Scott Stokdyk, Peter Nofz, Kee-Suk Ken Hahn and Spencer Cook Nominated
Kids' Choice Awards[129] March 29, 2008 Favorite Movie Actress Kirsten Dunst Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards[130] May 31, 2007 Best Summer Blockbuster Spider-Man 3 Won
MTV Movie Award[131] June 1, 2008 Best Fight James Franco and Tobey Maguire Nominated
Best Villain Topher Grace Nominated
National Movie Awards[132] September 27, 2007 Best Family Film Spider-Man 3 Nominated
Best Performance by a Female Kirsten Dunst Nominated
Best Performance by a Male Tobey Maguire Nominated
People's Choice Awards[133] January 8, 2008 Favorite On Screen Match-up Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire Nominated
Favorite Threequel Spider-Man Nominated
Saturn Awards[134] June 24, 2008 Best Director Sam Raimi Nominated
Best Fantasy Film Spider-Man 3 Nominated
Best Special Effects Scott Stokdyk, Peter Nofz, Spencer Cook and John Frazier Nominated
Best Supporting Actor James Franco Nominated
Teen Choice Awards[135] August 26, 2007 Choice Movie: Action Actor Tobey Maguire Nominated
Choice Movie: Action Actress Kirsten Dunst Nominated
Choice Movie: Action Spider-Man 3 Nominated
Choice Movie: Dance Tobey Maguire Nominated
Choice Movie: Liplock Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire Nominated
Choice Movie: Rumble James Franco, Tobey Maguire, Topher Grace and Thomas Haden Church Nominated
Choice Movie: Villain Topher Grace Nominated
Visual Effects Society Award[136] February 10, 2008 Best Single Visual Effect of the Year Scott Stokdyk, Terry Clotiaux, Spencer Cook and Douglas Bloom Nominated
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture Chris Y. Yang, Bernd Angerer, Dominick Cecere and Remington Scott Nominated
Outstanding Models or Miniatures in a Motion Picture Ian Hunter, Scott Beverly, Forest P. Fischer and Ray Moore Nominated
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Effects Driven Motion Picture Scott Stokdyk, Terry Clotiaux, Peter Nofz and Spencer Cook Nominated

Future

Cancelled sequels

In 2008, Spider-Man 4 entered development, with Raimi attached to direct and Maguire, Dunst and other cast members set to reprise their roles. Both a fourth and a fifth film were planned and at one time the idea of shooting the two sequels concurrently was under consideration. However, Raimi stated in March 2009 that only the fourth film was in development at that time and that if there were fifth and sixth films, those two films would actually be a continuation of each other.[137][138][139][140] James Vanderbilt was hired in October 2008 to pen the screenplay after initial reports in January 2009 that Sony Pictures was in contact with David Koepp, who wrote the first Spider-Man film.[141][142] The script was subsequently rewritten by Pulitzer-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire in November 2008 and rewritten again by Gary Ross in October 2009.[143] Sony also engaged Vanderbilt to write scripts for Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.[142]

In 2007, Raimi expressed interest in portraying the transformation of Dr. Curt Connors into his villainous alter-ego, the Lizard, a villain which had been teased since Spider-Man 2; the character's actor Dylan Baker and producer Grant Curtis were also enthusiastic about the idea.[144][145][146] By December 2009, John Malkovich was in negotiations to play Vulture and Anne Hathaway would play Felicia Hardy, though she would not have transformed into the Black Cat as in the comics but a new superpowered figure, the Vulturess.[147] According to sources online, an early draft of the film would have had the Vulture buying out the Daily Bugle, forcing Spider-Man to kill him. Felicia Hardy, Vulture's daughter in this version of the script, would have had an affair with Peter Parker in order to shatter his engagement with Mary Jane. These rumors were never confirmed. Raimi stated years later during an interview in 2013, however, that Hathaway was going to be Black Cat if Spider-Man 4 had been made.[147]

Sony Pictures announced in January 2010 that plans for Spider-Man 4 had been cancelled due to Raimi's withdrawal from the project. Raimi reportedly ended his participation due to his doubt that he could meet the planned May 6, 2011 release date while at the same time upholding the film creatively. Raimi purportedly went through four iterations of the script with different screenwriters and still "hated it".[148]

In March 2017, it was revealed that stock footage of a crowd reacting to Spider-Man catching Gwen Stacy from Spider-Man 3's B-roll was used in the trailer for the 2017 film Life.[149][150]

2012 reboot
Main article: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 film)

A reboot of the series called The Amazing Spider-Man was released on July 4, 2012, with Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.[151]

Marvel Cinematic Universe
Main articles: Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home

Following the underwhelming critical and commercial reception of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sony and Marvel Studios announced in February 2015 that a new iteration of Spider-Man would appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the character appearing in Captain America: Civil War.[152] As part of the agreement, Sony Pictures continued to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films. Marvel Studios and Sony will explore opportunities to integrate other characters of the MCU into future Spider-Man films.[153][154][155] Sony released a standalone film titled Spider-Man: Homecoming, produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal, on July 7, 2017, with Tom Holland starring as the new Spider-Man.[156] Holland reprises his portrayal of the character in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame,[157] and Spider-Man: Far From Home.[158] A third film is currently in development.

J.K. Simmons, who portrayed J. Jonah Jameson in the original films, played a new version of the same character in the mid-credits scene of Far From Home.

Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters
Main article: Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters
See also: Venom (2018 film)

In July 2007, Sony executive Avi Arad revealed a spin-off of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy focused on Venom was in the planning stages, with Jacob Aaron Estes commissioned to write a script, tentatively entitled Venom. In September 2008, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick signed on to write the film after Estes' script was rejected, while Gary Ross would direct. Variety reported that Venom would become an anti-hero in the film, and Marvel Entertainment would produce the film. The potential film was ultimately cancelled. The project languished in development hell for over a decade until it was eventually released in 2018, directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Tom Hardy, replacing Topher Grace as the titular anti-hero.

Notes
  1. The company is credited as Marvel Studios, despite not being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Further reading
  • Peter David (March 2007). Spider-Man 3 (Mass Market Paperback). Novelization of the film. Pocket Star. ISBN 978-1-4165-2721-3.
  • Grant Curtis (April 26, 2007). The Spider-Man Chronicles: The Art and Making of Spider-Man 3 (Hardcover). Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-5777-2.

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