As Amy Pascal quits as co-chair of Sony Pictures, the studio might just be off to have another chat with Marvel over Spider-Man.
NewsNot unexpectedly, Sony Pictures co-chair announced that she was leaving her post yesterday, and instead setting up a production deal with the studio. Following the heavily-reported cyberterrorist attack on the company's servers, Pascal's emails were leaked to the press, and it's felt like just a matter of time before she ended up paying a price for the content of them.
The official word is that Pascal's is a planned departure, but from the outside looking in, that doesn't look to be the case.
One ramification of her departure though is a potential change in how Sony handles the Spider-Manseries of movies. They've been stuck in limbo for a few months now, whilst the studio decides which direction to go in. It certainly seems like the plan to get a Sinister Six movie out in 2016 looks ambitious now.
[related article: What's Going on With Sony's Spider-Man Franchise?]
Already though, there's speculation that Sony may now take a different approach. In particular, Varietyis reporting that "a new regime may take a stronger look at returning to the negotiation table with Marvel Studios over Spidey's rights."
The studio certainly seems to need that sort of deal right now. Varietyalso reports that Sony may now look at changing the planned Spider-Man movie universe approach, that was leaning heavily on villain spin-offs.
[related article: Why Marvel Studios Doesn't Need Spider-Man]
It's all up in the air for now, of course, but a change at the top of the studio is inevitably going to put a fresh focus on one of its biggest movie franchises. As always, when we know more, we'll pass it on...
