Spiderman News

[rupertrover]

"vertigo inducing angles" LOL!

[Bottle Bono]

I would love to hear Bono et al do a cover version of the Spiderman Theme song.

[rattleandhumgir]

bono did say he wanted 2009 to be their year...so 2 albums that mite happen

[Bottle Bono]

A video of a song with Paul Hewson playing SpiderBono would be Ace.

"SpiderBono, SpiderBono, Does whatever a Lead singer activist Spider can..."

[doctorwho]

I hope Bono and Edge did a remade of "Spider Pig"!

Spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does. Can he swing, from a web? No, he's a spider pig. Look out! It's spider pig!

[PopFly]

I'm actually getting pretty fired up about this. My favourite band AND my favourite superhero combined in the same project? Sold!

Plus, it means we'll get TWO U2 (well, okay, one U2 and one Bono/Edge, close enough) albums in one year! That more than makes up for this long wait between albums.

[phommel]

Originally Posted by U2girl Spiderman meets U2.

broadway musical meets U2 ....

[Bottle Bono]

I hope it's not Camp.

[The_Edge89]

Just read this;

NME News Bono's broadway effort most expensive production in history 'Spider-Man' musical is costing $40 million The Broadway musical for which U2 frontman Bono is scoring is set to become the most expensive production in theatre history, according to reports today. ’Spider-Man’, directed by ‘The Lion King’s ‘Julie Taymor, is currently operating on a budget of $40 million and the show is expected to have a weekly running cost of $1 million. The budget may be reduced to a mere $35 million, which means that the musical would have to run for around 8,000 years to break even, according to calculations in today’s New York Post. According to the report, the enormous budget has been earmarked for designers, ranging from set to costume to fight designers, The show is scheduled to open on Broadway next year. --By our New York staff. Find out more about NME. Source: Bono's broadway effort most expensive production in history | News | NME.COM

[biff]

Here's the original article from today's New York Post, referenced by NME:

TAYMOR'S WEB OF RICHES 'SPIDER-MAN' BUDGET SWELLS TO $40 MILLION Last updated: 11:30 am October 8, 2008 Posted: 3:19 am October 8, 2008 IN this economy, everybody's tightening their belts. Everybody, that is, but Julie Taymor. The genius director of "The Lion King" has never met a budget she didn't blow right past. Case in point: "Spider-Man," her new show - extravaganza, really - whose budget has ballooned to $40 million, making it the most expensive production in theater history. Some of the people involved (there are dozens and dozens, with more being added daily) are starting to blanch at the price tag. With straight faces, a few are running around town saying things like: "Well, it's $40 million now, but we think we can get it down to $35 million." Let's see. If - and it's a big "if" where Julie The Lion Taymor is concerned - they do bring it in for $35 million, "Spider-Man," with a weekly running cost of $1 million, will have to run about 8,000 years in a Broadway theater just to break even. "It's off the charts," one source says. "Off the charts." The musical has a rock score by Bono (quite a good score, I'm told; the messy book is another matter) and is being produced by Sony, Marvel Comics and David Garfinkle, a lawyer who managed to get control of the musical after its original producer, the much-missed Tony Adams, died of a heart attack three years ago. This crowd has very little theatrical experience, which is apparent since nobody seems to have the wherewithal to say: "$40 million, Julie? Are you out of your f - - - ing mind??" Where's all that money going? Well, a lot of it's earmarked for "designers." There's a set designer and a costume designer and a projections designer and a fight designer and an aerial designer and a graphic designer and a film designer. In short, if you're a designer of any kind, you've got to get on this gravy train. "Julie's called designers - I mean people who aren't just designers but who have their own companies - and offered them jobs," a source says. "The Playbill is going to have 18 pages of designer bios." "Spider-Man" has gotten so expensive, some people working on it think it should bypass Broadway and head straight to Las Vegas, where it might have a shot at making money. Maybe. One day. When pigs fly. But a high-ranking production source insists the show will definitely open on Broadway next year. The "Spider-Man" crew has been all over the Hilton Theatre. That's the worst-kept secret in town, but nobody's saying anything official because poor, deluded Mel Brooks still thinks "Young Frankenstein" is going to run longer than "Cats." (It's not going to run longer than January.) But the Hilton, horrible barn that it is, is the only theater big enough to accommodate Taymor's massive web of a show. Theater insiders blame Disney for her out-of-control spending habits. "The reason she worked with puppets most of her life is because she never had much of a budget," a source says. "But then Disney came along and gave her $25 million to do 'The Lion King.' " Her shoestring days are over, and now, the source adds: "She doesn't care what it costs. Does not care at all. Her attitude is: It's for the art, and you don't question artists." Even when the show they're working on is "Spider-Man"? michael.riedel@nypost.com

[biff]

Here's the latest update:

From The Sunday Times December 14, 2008

Spiderman fights Broadway slump The comic book hero is due to appear in a new musical just as the recession sweeps through New York’s theatre district SPIDERMAN may have met his most formidable foe yet — the Broadway slump. A musical based on the Marvel comic book hero, written by Bono and the Edge from U2, is to take up residency in the Hilton Theatre early next year as the chill wind of recession blows through the theatre district of New York. Spiderman, reportedly the most expensive show of all time with a budget of €25m, is expected to move into the Hilton after the final curtain falls on the theatre’s current tenant, Young Frankenstein, on January 4. The musical, directed by Mel Brooks, is one of 15 shows closing in the next six weeks, together with Equus, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Grease, Hairspray and Monty Python’s Spamalot. Despite offering discounted tickets, most shows on Broadway have been playing to half-filled houses in recent weeks and only two low-key productions with limited runs — All my Sons, by Arthur Miller, and The Seagull, starring Kristin Scott Thomas — made money this season. Micah Hollingsworth, general manager of the 1,500-seater Hilton, the theatre where Pirate Queen, produced by Moya Doherty and John McColgan, flopped, said Broadway was “hurting”. He said: “Every industry is suffering and we’re no exception. A lot of shows stay open for Thanksgiving and Christmas and then run out of steam. This year there are just more than normal closing down. Because of the economy, there’s more anxiety around.” Hollingsworth said that by the time Spiderman opened, there should be a rebound. “From what I hear, it’s an ambitious show and won’t start for some time, so its timing may not be so bad after all,” he said. Adrian Bryan-Brown, the show’s theatrical agent, said it could open as early as next spring or as late as autumn. “It’s a huge show with very specialised technical needs, so it may take some time to fit out a venue,” he said. Bryan-Brown said he was “optimistic” that the production would buck the Broadway slump. “It’s not going to be like any other show,” he said. “January and February are always tough on Broadway. This year the seasonal downturn has just been exaggerated by the recession”. Bono has promised that the show will be “something the likes of which no-one has seen or heard”. He said the music will be part punk rock and part opera. “It should be a hallucinogenic experience for theatregoers,” he said. “You have the visual energy brings. The myth of the arachnid and the elasticity of these characters — you can turn theatre upside down.” Spiderman may need to demonstrate all his gravity-defying skill, however, to rise above the downturn. Among the big budget productions currently playing, only Billy Elliot is considered a success. A lavish €10m production of A Tale of Two Cities that opened in September was forced to close two months later. To stimulate demand, Disney shows, such as The Lion King and Mary Poppins, are offering a free children’s ticket with every full-price ticket, and other shows are offering discounts to people over 65. When the $12m (€9m) Pirate Queen closed after three months, it was estimated to have lost $8m. The stakes for Spiderman, with twice the budget, are even greater. Bryan-Brown says he remains confident. He predicts that Broadway ticket sales will pick up when tourists begin to return to New York next spring. “Broadway is the number one reason why tourists come to New York. Visitor numbers are down but all the expectations are that the industry will pick up. Talk of a Broadway crash is over the top — a lot of the shows that are closing are seasonal attractions and would have been expected to end anyway at this time of year.” The agent said that details of the cast and production schedule would be released early in the new year. Evan Rachel Wood, a Hollywood actress, has been tipped for the role of Mary Jane Watson, Spiderman’s girlfriend. Bryan-Brown confirmed that she had attended workshops for the part. Taymor previously directed Wood in Across the Universe, a musical movie inspired by the songs of the Beatles that featured a brief guest appearance from Bono. She hopes to reunite the actress with her co-star from the film, Jim Sturgess, as Peter Parker and Spiderman.

Spiderman fights Broadway slump - Times Online

[OrARoundabout]

Somebody needs to stop this...this entire musical...its one big







EPIC FAIL

Okay, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me was an ungodly good song...even for a Batman that was 1/1,000,000 as kick ass as the Batman we have now...

I just don't see it working for Spider Man...

[Utoo]

I think that it's likely to be visually & musically impressive. The two obstacles it faces are: 1). How corny it is----it needs to surpass the huge cheese factor of being "Spider-Man: The Musical," and 2). The economy----with that massive budget, if it stays in the red for too long, it'll be billed as a failure no matter how good the show itself is.

I don't doubt that the music itself will be cool, and I hope that U2 fulfill the rumor that there will be both a cast soundtrack and a U2 version of the soundtrack released.

[digitize]

Do I smell "major tour with American stadiums"?

[biff]

Originally Posted by Utoo I don't doubt that the music itself will be cool, and I hope that U2 fulfill the rumor that there will be both a cast soundtrack and a U2 version of the soundtrack released.

Yes, even if the play itself flops, we'll have at least one and possibly two versions of the score. And all accounts from people who have already heard it have been extremely positive.