The Amazing Spider-Man 2 came, it saw, and it got its webs cut off at the box office. It will just barely stagger over $700 million at the global box office, which sounds like a lot until you realize Sony was betting this would gross a billion dollars and launch an Avengers-esque franchise. Oh, it’s also the lowest grossing Spidey movie in the US. And that might have Sony nervous.
Buried at the bottom of AICN’s coverage of those Justice League rumors is a note that The Amazing Spider-Man 3: Spider-Man Probably Dies In This One is delayed to at least 2017. That derails quite a bit of the planning Sony has put into these movies; Venom and Sinister Six are both supposed to be coming within the next two years, and Amazing Spider-Man 3 is supposed to be tied in with them.
If true, it would make sense. The second movie was something of a train wreck artistically. It’s fairly clear that rushing into a reboot trilogy has done the character no favors, and that’s been reflected in the box office.
The Amazing Spider-Man 3 is probably going to get made. Sony’s other option is to try and get Disney to buy back the rights, and that’s never going to happen. Disney loves this arrangement: They make money while Sony takes all the risk. Why change it, especially since they get the rights back anyway if Sony doesn’t put a movie into production?
Still, don’t be surprised if there’s a movie. It’ll happen, but first Sony has to figure out how to make it work.