The Amazing Spider-Man is a 2012 American superhero film directed by Marc Webb based on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man. It is the fourth Columbia Pictures film that portrays Spider-Man in film and is a reboot of the Sam Raimi film series with Andrew Garfield as the title role of the superhero. The cast also includes Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors.
The film will portray Parker as his super powers are evolving in high
school and will explore him trying to discover the truth behind the
death of his parents, and discovering himself in the process. The film will also feature artificial webs
fired from custom designed wrist-mounted guns, which are invented by
Parker as they were in the comic book series, rather than the organic
webs depicted in the previous films.
Director: Marc Webb
Writers: James Vanderbilt (screenplay), Alvin Sargent (screenplay)
Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans | See full cast and crew
The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an
outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving
him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like
most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got
to be the person he is today. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase
that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his
parents' disappearance - leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of
Dr. Curt
Connors (Ifans), his
father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with
Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices
to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.
The film's development began simultaneously with Sony announcing the cancellation of Spider-Man 4.
Opting for a reboot with the same production team rather than another
sequel, the studio announced a July 2012 release date for what was now
titled The Amazing Spider-Man. James Vanderbilt was hired to write the script while Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves helped fine-tune the script. Pre-production
involved the casting of many actors trying out the role of Spider-Man
and Gwen Stacy respectively until Garfield and Stone were the clear
choice. Using Red Digital Cinema Camera Company's RED Epic camera, principal photography started in December 2010 in Los Angeles before moving to New York City. The film entered post-production in April 2011 with the film being shot in 3D with 3ality Technica and with James Horner contributing to the film score.
Sony Entertainment has focused its marketing campaign with a promotional
website with released images and three theatrical trailers, along with a
prologue screening in certain cities, a video game tie-in being developed by Beenox and a viral marketing campaign among other products. The Amazing Spider-Man premiered on June 13, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan and was released in the United States on July 3, 2012 in 3D and in IMAX 3D.
The critical reaction to the film is generally favorable with the
consensus that Webb and the cast deliver thrills despite some elements
having similarity to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man due to the following of some of the same source material of the comics.
