Spider Man

Peter Parker can catch all sorts of villains in his webs, but the one thing Spider-Man couldn't bring to Sony Pictures was a workable script -- and budget -- for the $2.5-billion franchise's fourth installment, derailing one of the most lucrative movie series in Hollywood history. Less than a week after the studio said it was postponing production on the fourth web-slinger movie over story problems, Sony on Monday pulled the plug on the project as it was being conceived with director Sam Raimi after he told the studio he wasn't comfortable moving forward with the sequel, originally scheduled for release in May 2011.

The Santa Monica home of screenwriter Alvin Sargent and his late wife, film producer Laura Ziskin , has come on the market at $11.85 million. Ziskin worked with designer Jane Hallworth in creating the detailed interiors. A back-lit honeycomb onyx fireplace is a focal point of the living room. In the powder room, a smoky beveled mirror provides a backdrop for a sink made out of a single piece of wood. A hammered brass tub from India looks like an art object in the master bathroom.

A roundup of Friday morning's arts and entertainment headlines: America, meet your new Spider-Man. ( Los Angeles Times) The Black Eyed Peas are teaming with James Cameron for a 3-D concert movie. (Entertainment Weekly) "The Fall Guy" is headed to the big screen. (Los Angeles Times) Is it time for Mel Gibson to get some anger management? (The Big Picture) Katy Perry bought her mom a face-lift. (The Sun) "Eclipse's" box office is running ahead of "New Moon's" in most foreign countries.

KFI suspends John, Ken Controversial talk-show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou have been suspended by KFI-AM (640) for making what the station called "insensitive and inappropriate comments" about the late Whitney Houston, including calling her a "crack 'ho. " The comments came this week during a discussion of Houston's reported drug use. "KFI AM 640 does not condone, support or tolerate statements of this kind," said a statement posted...

After all the hype, money and bodily injury, it turns out "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" is kind of lame. ( Los Angeles Times ) Ladies and gentlemen, here's your Oscars class of 2011. ( Los Angeles Times ) Sunday's Super Bowl was the most-watched TV event in U.S. history. ( Los Angeles Times ) Some dinner guests bring a bottle of wine; according to Josh Brolin, John Travolta brings his magical Scientology healing ability. ( Wall Street Journal ) Prince pulls Kim Kardashian on stage during his Madison Square Garden show, realizes she has no talent, boots her off the stage.

Webb to weave Spidey Marc Webb has caught the job of "Spider-Man" director. Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced Tuesday that the "(500) Days of Summer" director will helm the next "Spider-Man" film following the departure of Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire, the director and star who worked on the previous three Spidey films. The fourth installment is set for a 2012 release and will focus on a younger version of the superhero. Webb said in a statement he was not taking over the series from Raimi but instead wanted the "opportunity for ideas, stories and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas and creative voice to 'Spider-Man.

Like a superhero after a bad beat-down, the Broadway musical starring Spider-Man has dusted itself off and is fighting back against perhaps its greatest nemesis ? its own complications. After the first preview performance Sunday, in which "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" had to be halted five times because of technical glitches, two subsequent shows have each been stopped only once. "We've worked out 80% of our bugs," says lead producer Michael Cohl. "We're way ahead of the game.

Bad luck has struck the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" again: Another cast member has been hurt in a production that has been plagued by injuries. This time, lightning has struck twice in the same role. Rick Miramontez, the show's spokesman, confirmed Tuesday that T.V. Carpio, who plays Spidey's nemesis Arachne, was hurt March 16 "during an onstage battle scene with a fellow actor. " She is expected to sit out the next two weeks on doctor's orders, with America Olivo taking her place.

Spidey sense is singing After delays and numerous rumors of shutdowns and financial problems, Broadway's new Spider-Man musical announced an official opening date Tuesday. The production, directed by Julie Taymor and featuring music by Bono and the Edge, will begin preview performances at the newly renamed Foxwoods Theatre (formerly the Hilton Theatre) on Nov. 14 and will open on Dec. 21. "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" was originally supposed to open in February, but the escalating cost of the musical — which is said to be the most expensive ever on Broadway — caused the production to be pushed back.

The Santa Monica home of screenwriter Alvin Sargent and his late wife, film producer Laura Ziskin , has come on the market at $11.85 million. Ziskin worked with designer Jane Hallworth in creating the detailed interiors. A back-lit honeycomb onyx fireplace is a focal point of the living room. In the powder room, a smoky beveled mirror provides a backdrop for a sink made out of a single piece of wood. A hammered brass tub from India looks like an art object in the master bathroom.

The Batman Files Matthew K. Manning Andrews McMeel, $100 A vivid assortment of "files" on everything in Bruce Wayne's world - gadgetry, enemies, police records, dossiers - collected by Wayne as a guide for helping his future successor. Government Issue Comics for the People, 1940s-2000s Richard L. Graham Abrams Comicarts, $29.95 How U.S. government agencies have used comic characters - Lil Abner in the Navy, for example, or Bert the Turtle surviving an atomic blast - to spread information to the public.

When Kate Naver, an Australian who'd come to New York to see Broadway shows, watched Friday night as "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" star John Larroquette ad-libbed a joke about Hurricane Irene, she was tickled. But shortly after the show ended, she was far less pleased when she learned that the storm had forced the cancellation of Broadway performances the rest of the weekend, including a Saturday evening staging of "Mary Poppins" for which she held a ticket. "I'm from Melbourne, where we have storms like this all the time," Naver, 37, said.

If the film business is akin to playing poker, two Hollywood studios are making bets on a hand they haven't yet been dealt. Lionsgate and Sony Pictures have announced release dates for sequels to "The Hunger Games" and "The Amazing Spider-Man," two highly anticipated movies that will be released in March and July 2012, respectively. "Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire" has been scheduled for November 2013, while the sequel to the "Spider-Man" reboot will hit theaters in May 2014.

The "Jersey Shore" gang took its act to Italy on Thursday night and delivered ratings that MTV was describing Friday as stupendo and fantastico. The fourth season premiere of the reality show about housemates Ronnie, Sammi, Snooki & Co. attracted 8.8 million viewers, the network said, describing it as the largest audience ever for an MTV season premiere and the third-highest MTV series telecast ever (bested only by two other "Jersey Shore" episodes last season). The audience was 4% higher than for the show's first episode last season, MTV said.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday: Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones and master makeup guy Dick Smith will receive honorary Oscars this year. ( Los Angeles Times ) A 30-minute piece of one of Alfred Hitchcock's early film efforts has been discovered in New Zealand. ( Los Angeles Times ) Laurence Fishburne will be Perry White in "Man of Steel. " ( Hero Complex ) William and Kate flew on an economy airline when coming home from Zara Phillips' royal wedding.

No spandex-clad characters truly soared during Hollywood's summer of superheroes, but that isn't stopping the studios from speeding ahead with plans for more. The last three months have brought to theaters four superhero movies based on long-running comic books, more than have ever been released before in such a short time frame. Results were mixed: "Thor" and, based on early returns, "Captain America: The First Avenger" were solid performers; "X-Men: First Class" did decent business; and "Green Lantern" is a flop.

Julie Taymor has directed Hollywood movies, won an Emmy Award for an opera production, and earned two Tonys for "The Lion King," one of Broadway's biggest and most lucrative musicals ever. But her artistic roots lie deep in avant-garde and experimental theater. So when the original director and co-creator of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" spoke Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles before hundreds of theater professionals, the event had the feel of a homecoming, or a reunion of artistic kinfolk.

As this Spider-Man tale opens, the audience sees New York City "on fire and in ruins" as "a section of the Brooklyn Bridge ascends with Mary Jane bound and dangling helplessly from the bridge." Soon thereafter, a new villainess called Arachne flies into the picture spinning her own deadly trap, and as Spider-Man battles all kinds of criminals he's swinging right over the audience. It sounds like the 3-D opening for the next "Spider-Man" sequel, and even though this superhero story is filled with Hollywood-style special effects, it is instead a glimpse from a confidential script of a planned "Spider-Man" musical -- the priciest undertaking, and among the most troubled productions, in Broadway history.

Times Square on a warm recent Friday night had the character of an amusement park. The streets were thick with tourists in shorts, snapping pictures, clutching drinks and ice cream cones. Gigantic theme restaurants were jammed. Broadway theaters beckoned with entertainment meant to be the equivalent of a Disneyland ride (and Disney itself is no small presence here). How much longer before the Great White Way hosts attractions like the Great White Wave? Put on your swim suit and jump in. My heart sank as I entered the Foxwoods Theatre for the "Spider-Man" roller coaster.

For self-proclaimed geeks, superfans and buffs of the popcorn film, San Diego's Comic-Con International is an annual pilgrimage. The convention center's 6,500-seat Hall H is the hallowed ground where Jon Favreau first introduced Robert Downey Jr. as "Iron Man" and where James Cameron's "Avatar" began to generate the kind of deafening buzz that indicated it would be much more than an expensive 3-D movie about blue people from another planet. At this year's sold-out confab, which starts Thursday and runs through Sunday, Steven Spielberg will make his first appearance to discuss his motion-capture movie "The Adventures of Tintin" and Sony Pictures will introduce Andrew Garfield as the new Spider-Man.