Raimi off Jack Ryan

It has been reported in several places that Sam Raimi was the man chosen to make the new Jack Ryan movie, but it appears that his commitment to the SPIDERMAN cause has forced him to drop out. The Ryan character is of course the creation of novellist Tom Clancy, and has been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck in the past. Raimi told MTV:

“I’m really excited about Spider-Man… Production [on more ‘Spider-Man’ films] would start probably by March, I’m guessing of 2010. I love Tom Clancy, and I hope they’d keep me in mind… But because I’m committed to ‘Spider-Man and making that picture, I think it’s going to knock me out of the running for the Jack Ryan picture.”

I’m gonna put this out there and say that SPIDERMAN 4 will open as big at the box office as superhero films generally do, but it won’t be anywhere near huge. I’m pretty sure that how much money sequels make is related to how the previous installment made you feel and I don’t know about you but I felt slighted by SPIDEY 3. On the other side of that coin of course, if Nolan ever makes BATMAN 3 Warner Bros. will likely be able to build homes for its employees built entirely from cement and the money they made from the movie.