Sam Raimi Talks Spider-Man 4, 5 & 6

Poor Sam Raimi! Lately, all he's been doing is talking about "Spider-Man 4," who the villains will be in it, and whether he will direct a fifth and sixth version of the movie. Beyond that, "Drag Me to Hell," which he directed, just arrived on DVD and Blu-ray disc (read the review here). So, he's also talking about that.

But what about the "Spider-Man" movies? And how will his experience with "Drag Me to Hell" influence those movies?

Check out this quote from today's Coventry Blog:

Asked about complaints that there were too many villains in Spider-Man 3, he said: “I think having so many villains detracted from the experience. I would agree with the criticism.”

Raimi added that he had learned some new lessons and storytelling tricks from his last film, Drag Me to Hell. “I think I’ve learned about the importance of getting to the point and the importance of having limitations, and I’m hoping to take that into a production where I’m actually allowed to explore with more of the tools to pull it off with a little more splendor.

“I hope I don’t lose that edge that I’ve just found. That would be my approach to ‘Spider-Man 4′: to get back to the basics.”

And this from MTV on whether he would return to direct Spider-Man 5 & 6, which currently are being written by James Vanderbilt:

“Every time I make one of the ‘Spider-Man’ movies, I have to ask myself, is the character still intriguing to me?” Raimi told MTV News. “Do I love the character? Am I dying to tell the next story of Peter Parker and Spider-Man?”

“And so far the answer has been yes,” he said.

“If ever I feel sated, like I’ve got no more to say or I’m not really super-excited about it,” Raimi continued, “because I know I’ll also love it, but I’ve got to be super-excited about it. If I can’t reach that level of commitment and excitement, I think then there’d be somebody else better to do justice to the story.”

“You have to ask me in two-and-half years,” he laughed.

And you're also going to have to ask Tobey Maguire, and whether audiences will want to see the franchise rebooted at that point with a new actor.

I don't see Maguire doing it--just getting him to come to the table for "Spider-Man 4" was a push that cost the studio plenty. They'll reap the benefits, for sure, but the big question is this: When will the franchise suffer audience fatigue? Or, better put, when will this franchise with this cast suffer audience fatigue?

Something only the box office knows.