Sam Raimi Reveals Why He Walked Away From Spider-Man 4

In a recent interview with Vulture Sam Raimi opened up about the real reasons he opted out of a fourth Spider-Man movie.

“It really was the most amicable and undramatic of breakups. It was simply that we had a deadline and I couldn’t get the story to work on a level that I wanted it to work.”

Having not enjoyed the experience of making Spider-Man 3 Raimi was keen to make the proposed fourth film a drastic improvement on the poorly received (but box office friendly) threequel: ”I was very unhappy with Spider-Man 3, and I wanted to make Spider-Man 4 to end on a very high note, the best Spider-Man of them all. But I couldn’t get the script together in time, due to my own failings, and I said to Sony, ‘I don’t want to make a movie that is less than great, so I think we shouldn’t make this picture. Go ahead with your reboot, which you’ve been planning anyway“.

A couple of weeks ago the director admitted he has yet to see the rebooted franchise and told The Huffington Post: “Well, I’m a big Marc Webb fan and a giant fan of Emma Stone. And of Andrew Garfield. I saw him on Broadway in ‘Death of a Salesman’ – it’s just brilliant. And I love the producers of that movie because they are dear friends, and the writer. But I haven’t had the guts to go see the movie yet. Because I don’t want to go to my girlfriend’s wedding. I just can’t bring myself to do it. I don’t have the guts. But I hear it’s great. My wife even loved the picture and said it was a wonderful, excellently produced, beautifully acted, brilliantly written ‘Spider-Man’ picture. She’d tell me the truth and that’s what she said.”

Reviews for Raimi’s latest project Oz: The Great and Powerful have been positive so far and earlier this week he announced he is still considering an Evil Dead 4 and is working on the script with his brother Ivan. The remake of the Evil Dead arrives in UK cinemas next month which was produced by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell.