Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Tom Holland Cast As New "Spider-Man"



Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have confirmed that after a worldwide casting search, actor Tom Holland will play 'Peter Parker'/'Spider-Man' in the next "Spider-Man" film, in theaters in IMAX and 3D, July 28, 2017, directed by Jon Watts, director of "Cop Car", the upcoming thriller that made its debut earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival:


"...Marvel and Sony Pictures, and producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal conducted an extensive search for both the actor and the director. The studios and producers were impressed by Holland's performances in 'The Impossible', 'Wolf Hall' and the upcoming 'In the Heart of the Sea', followed by a series of complex screen tests. Following Marvel’s tradition of working with the brightest next wave of directors, Watts also went through multiple meetings with Feige, Pascal, and the studio, before winning the job..."


"It’s a big day here at Sony" said Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairman. "Kevin, Amy and their teams have done an incredible job. The Marvel process is very thorough, and that’s why their results are so outstanding. I’m confident 'Spider-Man' will be no exception. I’ve worked with a number of up-and-coming directors who have gone on to be superstars and believe that Jon is just such an outstanding talent. For 'Spidey' himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom's screen tests were special. All in all, we are off to a roaring start..."


"As with James Gunn, Joss Whedon, and the Russo brothers, we love finding new and exciting voices to bring these characters to life," said Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige.


"We spent a lot of time with Jon and find his take and work inspiring."


"Sony, Marvel, Kevin and I all knew that for Peter Parker, we had to find a vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world," said Sony's Amy Pascal. "With Tom, we’ve found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man’s story into the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe'..."


"We want to play with 'Spider-Man' in the high school years," confirmed Feige, "because frankly there’ve been five 'Spider-Man' films and the amazing thing about it is...


"...even though there’ve been five 'Spider-Man' films, there are so many things from the comics that haven’t been done yet.


"Not just characters or villains or supporting characters, but sides to his character.


"The most obvious being the ‘young, doesn’t quite fit in’ kid before his powers...


"...and then the fella' that puts on a mask and swings around and fights bad guys and doesn’t shut up, which is something we want to play with and we’re excited about.

"I think it was midway through the first film that he graduated high school. At the beginning of the second Marc Webb film, he graduated high school...



"And some of my favorite 'Spider-Man' arcs and 'Spider-Man' stories, he’s in high school for a lot of it. We want to explore that.



"That also makes him very, very different from any of our other characters in the 'MCU', which is something else we want to explore...


"...how unique he is when now put against all these other characters.


Click the images to enlarge...