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Playbill.com: The producers of Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark have resumed litigation with director Julie Taymor after failing to reach a final settlement in her copyright infringement case, according to Reuters.
It seems that my entire college career have spanned the arch of Spiderman: Turn off the Dark. I recall the beginning talks on this blog, the specials on the load-in process, the infamous delay of opening, the massive accumulating debt, the injuries, the new directors and the lawsuits.
And yet, it's still going. It says that they hope to reach an agreement within the next few days, but I think by now we have realized that nobody wins. Except the tabloids.
Would you still really do anything to get on Broadway? Doesn't look so appealing to me.
Like Ariel, i think its funny how problems from this musical have lasted so long and continue to crop up. The money issue, the safety issues, and all the problems that rouse from the director. When I first read this article I thought that it was really nothing more than Taymore just trying to squeeze out more money from the productions, who wouldnt? But then realizing how much time ( and time is money) on the production, not to mention her reputation.
When I first heard about Spiderman opening into a rock musical, I could not believe how such movie that involves a lot of actions and details can be made into a live theatre. However, as I waited for it to be released, all I heard was delay in production along with other problems as Ariel and Simone mentioned. After hearing a lot of circumstances that the production is facing, hearing another major problem, litigation, is just very sad and depressing. However, I still heard very good and positive comments about effects and techniques that they put in to make it more realistic and I heard the show was actually brilliant and fresh. So, I hope that the litigation will be resolved soon with good result for both sides and the production can be settled firmly in Broadway without any conflict anymore.
Like Ariel, this whole ordeal has taken place over my college career and at this point it is just ridiculous. I am so tired of reading article about how more ridiculous this is becoming. I feel like this is going to go to trial, not because they can't agree, but because they want the spectacle.
I agree with what everyone else has said, although I'm not really that surprised that this is lasting as long as it is. What does surprise me is that Julie Taymor is pursuing this as far as she seems to be. With the years of litigation, she must have used up her entire salary plus whatever this settlement might ultimately win her. On top of that, she is taking on a subsidiary of Disney, which is in itself a gutsy move. I absolutely understand that she wants what she is owed if she hasn't gotten it, but at the same time, the longer this goes on, the worse her reputation becomes, and she will always be known as the "Spiderman director who caused huge problems and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) worth of litigation and damages". Reputation in the theatre business is huge, and can be the difference between working consistently and not working at all.
On a side note, this article mentions that Marvel (and thus Disney) wants to take this show on the road to different venues... many venues are definitely not equipped to house this show in its current performance or if they are, it will still require an ENORMOUS amount of load-in and safety checks for all of the flying that has to take place. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Disney would spend all that money, but its something to think about.
5 comments:
It seems that my entire college career have spanned the arch of Spiderman: Turn off the Dark. I recall the beginning talks on this blog, the specials on the load-in process, the infamous delay of opening, the massive accumulating debt, the injuries, the new directors and the lawsuits.
And yet, it's still going. It says that they hope to reach an agreement within the next few days, but I think by now we have realized that nobody wins. Except the tabloids.
Would you still really do anything to get on Broadway? Doesn't look so appealing to me.
Like Ariel, i think its funny how problems from this musical have lasted so long and continue to crop up. The money issue, the safety issues, and all the problems that rouse from the director. When I first read this article I thought that it was really nothing more than Taymore just trying to squeeze out more money from the productions, who wouldnt? But then realizing how much time ( and time is money) on the production, not to mention her reputation.
When I first heard about Spiderman opening into a rock musical, I could not believe how such movie that involves a lot of actions and details can be made into a live theatre. However, as I waited for it to be released, all I heard was delay in production along with other problems as Ariel and Simone mentioned. After hearing a lot of circumstances that the production is facing, hearing another major problem, litigation, is just very sad and depressing. However, I still heard very good and positive comments about effects and techniques that they put in to make it more realistic and I heard the show was actually brilliant and fresh. So, I hope that the litigation will be resolved soon with good result for both sides and the production can be settled firmly in Broadway without any conflict anymore.
Like Ariel, this whole ordeal has taken place over my college career and at this point it is just ridiculous. I am so tired of reading article about how more ridiculous this is becoming. I feel like this is going to go to trial, not because they can't agree, but because they want the spectacle.
I agree with what everyone else has said, although I'm not really that surprised that this is lasting as long as it is. What does surprise me is that Julie Taymor is pursuing this as far as she seems to be. With the years of litigation, she must have used up her entire salary plus whatever this settlement might ultimately win her. On top of that, she is taking on a subsidiary of Disney, which is in itself a gutsy move. I absolutely understand that she wants what she is owed if she hasn't gotten it, but at the same time, the longer this goes on, the worse her reputation becomes, and she will always be known as the "Spiderman director who caused huge problems and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) worth of litigation and damages". Reputation in the theatre business is huge, and can be the difference between working consistently and not working at all.
On a side note, this article mentions that Marvel (and thus Disney) wants to take this show on the road to different venues... many venues are definitely not equipped to house this show in its current performance or if they are, it will still require an ENORMOUS amount of load-in and safety checks for all of the flying that has to take place. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Disney would spend all that money, but its something to think about.
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