Andrew Garfield to play Spider-Man

Updated: 7:37 p.m. PT Thursday, July 1, 2010

By Ace Fernandez

Andrew Garfield is the new Peter Parker. The "Red Riding" star has won the lead role in Sony's reboot of its "Spider-Man" franchise being directed by Marc Webb. The studio will release the film in 3D on July 3, 2012.

The new iteration, which will veer from the Sam Raimi-directed trilogy that starred Tobey Maguire, begins production in December. James Vanderbilt wrote the screenplay.

As with the previous three films, Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad will produce.

"Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor's work understand his extraordinary talents," Webb said of Garfield. "He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit and humanity."

Garfield was among a small crop of actors that THR spotlighted a month ago as the final candidates. The studio finally revealed its choice at an event in Cancun, Mexico, for international journalists attending a media tour promoting films from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

SPE co-chairman Amy Pascal and Columbia Pictures president Matt Tolmach said they were "floored" by his screen test and the footage they've seen of him in David Fincher's upcoming film, "The Social Network," also at Columbia.

Garfield was caught somewhat by surprise himself. The actor was in Cancun as part of the studio's event, as an actor in "Social Network," when he was called into a suite with Pascal just before the news conference and told that he was going to be doing some web-slinging.

It's a huge boon for Garfield, 26, a relatively unknown who now inherits the lead in a $2.5 billion film franchise. Raised and based in Britain, he has been gaining momentum stateside since his gritty turns in the three "Red Riding" films released last year in the U.K. In addition to his role in "Social Network," Garfield has the male lead in "Never Let Me Go," Mark Romanek and Alex Garland's adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel that Fox Searchlight releases in September.

He also starred in Spike Jonze's lengthy short, "I'm Here," which was shown this year at Sundance.

The new "Spider-Man" film places Parker back in high school, where he will struggle with the knowledge that his uncle died despite his power to stop it. Maguire, Raimi and the studio made the decision at the beginning of the year to restart the story in a scaled-back fashion.

Maguire was the same age as Garfield is now when he was cast as the Marvel hero in 2001. The first "Spider-Man" film went on to gross $807 million worldwide in 2002.

Repped by CAA, Gordon and French in the U.K. and the Collective, Garfield also has appeared in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Lions for Lambs" and "Boy A" and won several awards on the British stage.

Comments

[SJLuke]

This casting choice has me intrigued. The actor seems to have good credentials but as a Spiderman fan, I need to see him in the role. He has to satisfy the comic book fans.

[amazon voucher]

Toby Maguire was true live action SPIDER-MAN so surely I refuse to see this new movie...Dont you think without Raimi or Tobey this movie is gonna kill the franchise.

[Michelle]

I gotta suspend all judgment until the movie actually comes out. I mean, there were plenty skeptical of Raimi and Tobey Maguire being able to pull off a good Spider-Man, and they certainly did so. Don't forget the amount of acrimony directed at Tim Burton when he announced that Mr. Mom would be Batman.

[Deb]

Yeah I remember the amount of acrimony directed at Burton and with good reason. Batman is 6'4" at least with muscles,
not the scrawny little wimp that Michael Keaton was in Batman.

[Not thrilled but we'll see]

I, like Deb, also remember the bad feelings about Keaton as Batman. And I also thought it was a bad idea - and it was! He did a serviceable job, but it wasn't what it SHOULD have been.
As for Peter Parker, I don't have a great feeling about this guy being cast as PP, but I guess i'll have to suspend judgment. It's almost guaranteed that I will NOT shell out any money to see this movie, but will wait for it on DVD.

[Sandaili]

What the heck is wrong with having the original play Spiderman? What is wrong with Hollywood these days? Haven't they learned anything?

[The Way It Is]

Look at the overseas industry blog trolls pushing this brit faggot with a fake family history to play Spider Man, like they're actual Americans. Americas going to clean this joker up like the last Joker. And the boat that played Batman is due.

[Budd]

It should have went to Troy from Community.

[Drake]

I've read over a thousand excuses for why Garfield was a horrible choice from only one person. Geeze! One was that he is too tall. He is 6 foot omg! I'm 6 foot. Tobey is 5'9'' that 3 inches difference. Big freaking deal lol. Some people just gah! It's deffinately better than Josh Hutcherson or Zac Efron. They try to get Zac for every role it's so stupid. When I saw the list of people to possibly play Peter, Garfield was my first choice, mainly because appearance wise he seems to pull it off. Is it just me or does he seem to look like that 1990's cartoon version of Peter?

[GillenH2O]

I recently watch LIONS FOR LAMBS and thouhgt Garfield gave a terrific performance. The best scenes in the film were dialogoues between Garfield's charactor and Robert Redford's, and Garfield more than pulled his weight along with Hollywood Giant Redford (who happened to also be the film's Director). I'm looking forward to seeing AG play Spiderman.

[hollister clothing]

Notice that the Chinese know how to do a stimulus package, while no one in power seems to know how to do a stimulus package here in the US.