As part of my 12-step recovery program to stop gabbing nonstop about Watchmen (I'm currently on Step 8, where I make amends to everyone I forced to watch the "Architects of Fear" episode of The Outer Limits), I'm happy to bring you news of other comic book movies that haven't been made yet. By the time March of 2009 rolls around, I hope to have gotten to at least Step 11, where I can look at a smiley-face button without crying.
Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire has agreed to keep slinging webs for at least two more movies, for an unprecedented $50 million deal that includes profit-sharing and family leave time to hang around with his daughter, the only-slightly-ridiculously named Ruby Sweetheart Maguire. Strangely, it was the family leave time, not the gargantuan paycheck, that was almost the dealbreaker; Sony was ready to walk and restaff the role when CEO Amy Pascal gave in to the demand, saying six months was too long for any parent to spend without family leave. Which should come as a surprise to the majority of working mothers, none of whom make $50 million per anything. To put the figure into perspective, this is the same amount of money Alex Rodriguez makes per year to not win the World Series, or roughly $1.5 million per minute Maguire spends doing a disco strut onscreen like he did in Spider-Man 3.
Meanwhile, Edward Norton, who recently failed to rejuvenate the Hulk franchise, says that if they have any plans to bring him back for a sequel, or for a spot in the proposed Avengers movie, they haven't bothered to let him know. Norton, who has what is known as a 'prickly' reputation on Hollywood with an emphasis on the first syllable, claims that Marvel is being opaque, but he stops short of calling them obtuse, which is just the sort of talk that explains why he hasn't gotten a phone call yet.
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