Posted by JeffMillsIB at pcp993375pcs.goosck01.sc.comcast.net on May 04, 2002 at 12:57:51:
This "Spider Man" movie had been "in the can" since the late 1980s. Originally, James Cameron was going to direct it and there was talk that John Cusack was going to play the title role. Jack Nicholson was rumored to play the Green Goblin and Arnold Schwarzenegger was going to be Dr. Octopus. That obviously failed to materialize.
So years went by and after many years of legal wrangling and copyright disagreements, the film finally got the go ahead. Before this happened, Cameron was still mentioned as director with Leonardo DiCaprio now rumored to play the title role. I personally think Raimi was an excellent choice. I loved his work with "Army of Darkness" and the "Evil Dead" flicks. I also think Tobey Maguire was excellent. A great casting job. And James Franco is going to be a star. He was great on "Freaks and Geeks" and trust me, he's going to be headlining films in a few years.