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Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse producer Christopher Miller has stepped in to deny that Sony has “scrapped” most of the third film for creative reasons.
Miller was forced to post on X/Twitter after industry reporter Jeff Sneider’s InSneider newsletter claimed on Monday that the highly anticipated third film in the Spider-Verse trilogy “would be unlikely to debut before 2027.
“The InSneider report also hinted at creative differences causing some scenes to be scrapped. According to Variety, it stated: “While the Beyond the Spider-Verse team was taken aback by the change in direction, I’m told they’re relieved to have more time to work on the sequel, as it’s important to all involved that they stick the landing on this Oscar-winning franchise.”
Miller, whose credits also include The Afterparty and The Mitchells vs the Machines, has been quick to chime in and deny the report. On Tuesday he wrote: “Nothing has been scrapped. The reels are coming along nicely.”
This comes after composer Daniel Pemberton also weighed in on the claims. “Don’t really ever want to weigh in on this sort of stuff BUT would you ever believe there could sometimes be stuff on the internet that might not always be particularly accurate? Hmmmm…” he said.
Despite the critical and commercial success of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, production on its predecessor has been fraught with problems.
Reports from Vulture suggested that production had halted due to conflicts with finishing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Work on the film was further delayed by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, which prevented voice actors from recording their dialogue.
The same report claimed that the second film encountered problems with animators who were operating under unsustainable work conditions and that 100 artists, who were working 11 hours a day and seven days a week, had left the project.
The franchise’s producer Amy Pascal told Vulture: “One of the things about animation that makes it such a wonderful thing to work on is that you get to keep going until the story is right.” To the animators who said they felt demoralized by revising final renders five times in a row, she added, “I guess, welcome to making a movie.”
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The film which will feature the vocal talents of Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld and Oscar Isaac was originally scheduled for a March 2024 release but at the time of writing still doesn’t have an official release date.
