The Amazing Spider-Man 3 Screenwriter Departure Confirmed

Source: Business Insider

Where does Spidey's future lie now that one of his top scribes has swapped Electro for the Starship Enterprise?
Writer and producer Roberto Orci has this week announced his departure from the screenplay team of Sony Pictures' upcoming superhero blockbuster The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Confirmed to be directed by Marc Webb earlier this year, the follow-up to the April 2014 motion picture sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 initially had Orci and Alex Kurtzman attached as its screenwriters, yet now appears to have entered a state of development limbo (along with the two spin-off films based on Venom and the Sinister Six which were announced to be in the planning stages last December).

The news comes direct from the proverbial horse's mouth (via IGN), with Orci (who's all but guaranteed to helm Paramount Pictures' 2016-bound sequel to Star Trek Into Darkness instead)'s comments on the matter of the fledging franchise's future reading something like this: "I don't know what [Sony's] plans are for that franchise. I don't ever want to say never [regarding his involvement with upcoming Spider-Man films], but we have to figure out what their scheduling is in terms of when they want each movie. I've read probably as much [of the in-gesticulation screenplays and pitches] as anyone else. There's a love for the Sinister Six, the idea of Venom - there's an idea of Spider-Man's going to be one of those characters that's part of our business. He's such a popular character. Spider-Man's not going to go away any time soon. When it all happens and how and all that has yet to be determined. [But he's] not officially involved in it."

Now, we're hardly betting fellows here at On-Screen, but we'd be willing to wager that those are not the kind of comments Sony would have originally hoped to have summarized the current status of their next Spider-Man cinematic instalments when they first announced their newfound plans for the rebooted saga, especially considering that the aim (from The Amazing Spider-Man 3 onwards) was for fans to flock to cinemas to bear witness to (at least) one film based around the Webbed Wonder's universe each year. The studio's impending ComicCon panels may shed some light on their potentially revised scheduling plans (although the fact that they've only currently booked slots for Goosebumps and Pixels isn't promising from the outset), but given that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the weakest-selling entry in the franchise so far Stateside, it's impossible to deny that its major execs are going to need to give what comes next some serious thought behind-the-scenes.

Sony Pictures' San Diego Comic-Con 2014 panels will take place in the Hilton Indigo Ballroom on July 24th.