According to its makers, the future of ‘Spider-Man’ and MCU

Godzilla presented his best with Shang-Ci, James Bond, Venom and the band “Fast and Furious”. But starting the box office after the epidemic – re-ordering the culture – took longer than Hollywood thought.

It finally happened on Thursday, when “Spider-Man: No Way Home”Oscillated exclusively in theaters.

According to Sony Pictures Entertainment, which co-produced the film with Disney-owned Marvel Studios, “No Way Home” grossed $ 50 million from the “preview” screening, which began Thursday at 3 p.m. This is the third highest preview result in the Hollywood history books after “Avengers: Endgame” ($ 60 million) and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($ 57 million).

Received “No Way Home” over the weekend in North America Exciting reviews, With ticket sales exceeding $ 150 million. No film grossed more than $ 90 million in its first weekend sale. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker“In 2019, according to ComScore.

“No Way Home”, directed by John Watts, marks the end of a trilogy in which Tom Holland plays Peter Parker and Gentaya MJ. But the $ 200 million series marks the pinnacle of nearly 20 years of Spider-Man movies – eight in total – as it draws on characters not seen from “Spider-Man 3” in 2007 and “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” in 2014.

Two people have been involved in ownership in one skill or another since its inception: Amy Pascal And Kevin Faiz. As Sony’s best film manager from 1999 to 2015, Pascal was in charge of the first five live-action Spider-Man films; She made the last three. Faiz worked on a variety of skills in early Spider-Man films, initially being relatively obscure, and was the last three producers in his role as head of Marvel Studios.

Both spoke to me via video from their homes in Los Angeles. These are excerpts from the dialog, in which – beware – some “no way home” spoilers.

Let’s start with the easy one. Kevin, set your future Marvel Cinematic Universe road map for Spider-Man. I need details.

Coward What?

What’s the next MCU crossover movie? “Doctor Strange in the Multiverses of Madness,” Will May Come? Maybe that “Fantastic Four” resume? Do not say “I do not know” because I know you know.

Coward He will appear occasionally. When, where, of course, the funniest part – and the part we never talked about.

What about the next stand-alone Spider-Man movie? Amy, last month you and Kevin – Sony and Disney – said they were going to collaborate on three more jobs, which took the studios by surprise.

Pascal We are producers, so we always hope everything works. I would love to work with Kevin. Together with Tom Rothman, who runs Sony, we have a great leader with great ideas. I hope it lasts forever.

It looks like a classic Hollywood walkie-talkie.

Coward Amy and I are talking Disney and Sony – yes, we are starting to actively build the next phase of the story, I say this frankly because fans do not want to experience any such division shock. “Far From Home. What happened next” [the previous Spider-Man movie, in 2019]. This time it will not happen.

Pascal At the end of the movie we just produced, you see Spider-Man making an important decision. It was a sacrifice. And it gives a lot of work for the next film.

The film, “No Way Home”, draws the main characters and stars from the 20-year-old franchise. How are you ever going to get to the top?

Pascal Not every Spider-Man movie is going to have multiple characters. That approach was right for this.

You can not think of the first place in the spectacular scene. Movies can get bigger and bigger for no other reason than that, which is not a good result. But, in terms of quality and emotion we always try and want to elevate ourselves. Kevin and I never want to miss a thing: Peter Parker. That he was a normal child. That is orphaned again and again. He is a young man, so everything in his life is at the highest pitch and most important of all. He is driven by a sense of goodness and guilt. He strives for a great cause, and he is discredited by the press.

What is the biggest challenge of creating “No Way Home”?

Coward Making everyone agree with you on a great, great idea. “Hey, we have an idea. Will you come and sign and be in this picture? ” “Cool! Can I read the script? “” No. “That was the hard part. Besides, Emmy, who calls anyone anywhere at any time, is a master producer at doing things.

Amy, I read somewhere that you saw him in person when Tom Holland was in the bathtub. Do you have any screen graphs so I can verify that information?

Pascal That is true. And, no, I do not share.

Who was the last signed “No Way Home” star?

Coward You are not the one who thinks. It’s not worth talking about who you are, but it’s not about who you think you are.

What is your pitch for skeptical cast?

Pascal That these are not going to be money-making cameos. The parts are real. I was with them for the first time, will be back, and I have great respect for them and for all the work we have done together over the years.

Why haven’t the heroines of previous Spider-Man movies, Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone, come back?

Coward People understand when they see the movie. It’s about the story. Amy and John and our writers, Chris McKenna and Eric Somers – all of us had a great goal – not to get lost in the madness of meeting Dr. Strange, a senior in Peter Parker’s high school. It could have happened easily. And that means there aren’t 20 people in the film.

Speaking of women, are we ever going to see a woman with superpowers with Spider-Man? Isn’t the storyline story of MJ getting to spin the Iron Spider armor in comics?

Pascal Do not always say no. [She offers a coy smile.]

Coward We have a lot of story lines, Brooks! A A lot Of Story lines. It comes down to these great, great actors. M.J. in Comics. Your question about what he did is less, and “Jentaya is so awesome. Can you see more about her? “

Toby and Kirsten. Emma and Andrew. Tom and Gentaya. Why all of your leading actors Will eventually fall on each other In real life? It can’t just be Spandex.

Pascal When we first put on the cast and lectured them, I took Tom and Gentia separately. Don’t go there – don’t. Do not try. I gave the same advice to Andrew and Emma. It complicates things, you know? And they all ignored me.

Can you give Tom some advice from me? Do not lie to reporters! He said in interviews last year Toby and Andrew never came back.

Pascal Well, he can’t express the things in the picture. You would not expect him to do that. Forgive him.

One last question for you: What is the truth about how the Pascal-Feij product collaboration started? My understanding is that you, Amy, who was driving Sony, created the “Amazing Spider-Man” sequel in 2014, which was very shaky. You called Kevin and said “help”.

Pascal It’s true. I called Kevin and said, “Help.” Then he came to my office for lunch and said, “I know how to help you.” Then I threw a sandwich at him.

Coward He said, “I want you to help with this next film. The next one has these great ideas. This is amazing. “I said, ‘I’m not good at that – I’m leaving with advice. The only way I know how to help is if we make a film for you.

Cut to the flying BLT or whatever it is.

Coward It’s a pretty low sandwich. I do not remember what kind. But, yes, she did not like that suggestion.

Pascal Then Kevin picked me up and came home and said, “I have an idea. What if Tony Stark created Peter’s pants? And as soon as he said that, I understood what we could do together. In order for Iron Man and Spidey to be in the same world, one has to be more rooted in technological innovations – the new suite – and less in the clinical trial, where we were previously confined, felt more modern.

It has taken a lot of work. But just look at the results. Very cool, isn’t it?