The June 28 Newsweek says Spider-Man 2 director Sam Raimi was unsure the original's star Tobey Maguire could make Columbia Pictures' summer 2004 deadline and help it beat the first film's $820 million worldwide box office take.
"Given this situation, I don't think we can make the picture with you," Raimi told Maguire. "I have to hire somebody else."
The exclusive cover story, "The Secrets of Spider-Man 2," reports the tangled backstory of the film that almost had to go on without Maguire, who had injured himself during the making of Seabiscuit. "My back was the worst it had ever been," Maguire says. "I looked at the stunts I was going to have to do for 'Spider-Man 2,' which were going to be three times as difficult as the stunts on the first movie, and it became a little overwhelming."
Eventually, the studio signed Maguire with a raise; bringing his total salary package to $17 million.
The end result works: Senior Editor Jeff Giles writes that "Sam Raimi has made a terrific film" that is smart and deeply felt. Maguire and Dunst, he writes, "are the real attraction. They look gorgeous, and their chemistry is deeper, quirkier and utterly convincing."
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With more than 50 years of comic book fandom and 30 years of gaming under my belt, I've begun seeing the whole world as a comic book movie!