Every studio has franchises to keep them afloat, but none have of them have to rely on just one franchise like Sony. The studio’s only franchise is Spider-Man, which it only has because it has retained the film rights to the Marvel character by constantly producing new films. Sony knows this, so it’s not surprising that Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal has just promised a Spider-Man universe movie once a year.
In a report about how the studio lacks more than one franchise, Variety spoke to Pascal. “We are expanding the Spider-Man universe into The Sinister Six and Venom, so that we have ‘Spider-Man’ movies every year,” she said.
Of course, Sony has been upfront about its plans for Spider-Man in the future, with the 2012 reboot The Amazing Spider-Man remaining the launchpad for all these grand plans. In December, the studio announced that alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard will make up a think tank of writers to make The Sinister Six, Venom, future installments of The Amazing Spider-Man main series and other projects. Kurtzman will direct Venom.
The main Amazing films are already planned through 2018. The second film hits theaters on May 2, the third in June 2016 and the fourth in 2018. Marc Webb will direct the third film, Variety’s new story confirmed.
While Sony can rely on Spider-Man for the immediate future, the studio is trying to get other franchises off the ground. A Smurfs 3 is already in the works, even if the second movie did worse than the first and a Goosebumps franchise is being planned, based on R.L. Stine’s books.
image courtesy of Sony Pictures