The Amazing Spider-Man

About the film

The Amazing Spider-Man is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. Directed by Marc Webb and written by James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, and Steve Kloves from a story by Vanderbilt, it is a reboot of the Spider-Man film series. It stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, and Sally Field. The plot of the film follows the teenager Peter Parker (Garfield) who gains spider-like abilities and fights crime as Spider-Man, while also attempting to live an ordinary life.

Development of the film began in 2010 following the cancellation of Spider-Man 4, which would have been the fourth film in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series starring Tobey Maguire. Columbia Pictures opted to reboot the franchise with the same production team, with Vanderbilt staying on to write, and Sargent and Kloves assisting with the script. Using the RED Epic camera, principal photography occurred in Los Angeles and New York City between December 2010 and May 2011. 3ality Technica provided 3D image processing, while Sony Pictures Imageworks handled CGI effects. It was the last film written by Sargent before his death in 2019.

Plot

After discovering that his home office has been burglarized, scientist Richard Parker and his wife Mary flee to an unknown destination, leaving their young son Peter in the care of his Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

Years later, a teenage Peter attends Midtown Science High School in New York City. He is intelligent, but socially awkward and often bullied. He has a crush on Gwen Stacy, who returns his feelings. Peter discovers his father's briefcase and learns from Ben that his father was a friend of Dr. Curt Connors, a scientist at Oscorp in the field of cross-species genetics. Hoping to learn about his father's work, Peter sneaks into a restricted laboratory at Oscorp, where a genetically modified spider bites him. He develops spider-like abilities, including superhuman strength, agility, speed, and the ability to cling to surfaces.

Connors, whose right arm has been amputated, is conducting experiments to regenerate limbs. Peter discovers the missing piece to Connors' research, the "decay rate algorithm", in his father's papers. Peter visits Connors, reveals that he is Richard's son, and gives Connors the algorithm. At home, Peter and Ben argue, and Peter leaves. While searching for Peter, Ben is killed by a thief. Under the alias Spider-Man, Peter uses his new abilities to track down criminals matching the killer's description. He creates a mask with yellow-tinted glasses and a spandex suit to hide his identity, and builds mechanical web-shooters using a web formula developed by Oscorp. At dinner with Gwen's family, he discovers her father is police captain George Stacy, who holds a grudge against Spider-Man. After arguing with Captain Stacy, Peter reveals his double identity to Gwen, and they kiss.

Production

Following the release of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 (2007), Sony Pictures Entertainment announced a May 6, 2011 release date for the next film in the series. By this time, James Vanderbilt, David Lindsay-Abaire and Gary Ross had written several screenplays for the film, which were rejected by Raimi. Alvin Sargent, who co-wrote Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, was working on yet another script. On January 11, 2010, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced that instead of continuing the Raimi series, they were rebooting the series with a new cast and crew. Deadline Hollywood reported that Raimi had pulled out of the project, and the studio did not want to continue the series without him. Additionally, Avi Arad felt that the writers had not produced a story of sufficient quality to warrant a continuation of the Raimi series. Arad, Matt Tolmach and Laura Ziskin were retained as producers for the upcoming reboot. According to Tolmach, the producers felt the core story of Spider-Man was that of a boy becoming a man, which could be depicted again in the reboot.

Tolmach, now president of Columbia Pictures, and Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, sought a director who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker's life. Kathryn Bigelow and David Fincher were considered for the job before Marc Webb was selected. Webb had recently made his directorial debut with 500 Days of Summer (2009). Webb praised Raimi's version of the Spider-Man character and said it was a challenging precedent to follow. He did not want to tell another story with Raimi's version of the character, but instead wanted to present a new version of Spider-Man. He later said that the world of The Amazing Spider-Man was influenced by the Ultimate Spider-Man comic series, but was also dreamed up by the filmmakers. The finalized screenplay was written by Vanderbilt and Sargent, with contributions from Steve Kloves and Paul Feig.

Before Andrew Garfield was cast as Spider-Man, other actors were considered for the role, including Michael Angarano, Drake Bell, Jamie Bell, Frank Dillane, Alden Ehrenreich, Josh Hutcherson, Aaron Johnson, Joe Jonas, Logan Lerman and Anton Yelchin. On July 1, 2010, it was announced that the role would go to Garfield, who said he calmed his anxiety about getting the part by pretending he was auditioning for a Spider-Man short film made by his friends. The film's director, Marc Webb, said that Garfield brought humor, emotional weight and physicality to the role. Garfield and Emma Stone were screen-tested together, and Webb said there was instant chemistry between them; they began dating while shooting the film.

Key details