After scoring a string of hits on projects that seemed doomed from the start, The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, and more, Phil Lord and Chris Miller have found themselves in high demand. Their name has seemingly been attached to any potential franchise. Most recently, it was reported that the duo was developing The Flash movie for Warner Bros., though they weren’t attached to direct. During today’s presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman announced that the duo would be writing and directing an animated Spider-Man film that will fit into the continuity of this latest incarnation of the web-slinger. They’ve already set July 20th, 2018 as a release date.
Tom Rothman announces that @philiplord and Chris Miller are developing an animated Spider-Man movie for @SonyPictures #CinemaCon
— Peter Sciretta (@slashfilm) April 23, 2015
Tom Rothman has just announced Phil Lord and Chris Miller are doing a fully animated SPIDER-MAN movie July 20, 2018.
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) April 23, 2015
Animated #Spiderman set to come out July 20, 2018. “It’s fucking awesome,” says Rothman. #CinemaCon
— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) April 23, 2015
UPDATE: It appears that Rothman wasn’t exactly clear with his announcement. According to the press release issued shortly after his presentation, Lord and Miller will be “masterminding” the animated film which will not fit into the new continuity. It’s still up in the air as to whether or not the duo will direct the project.
Here’s the press release (h/t: Collider)
SPIDER-MAN GETS ANIMATED AND DATED
WITH PHIL LORD & CHRISTOPHER MILLER AND SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENTLAS VEGAS, Nev., April 22, 2015 – On July 20, 2018, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, the directors ofThe Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and 21 and 22 Jump Street, are taking Spider-Man back to his graphic roots with the first-of-its-kind animated Spider-Man feature, it was announced today at CinemaCon by Tom Rothman, chairman of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. The film will exist independently of the projects in the live-action Spider-Man universe, all of which are continuing.
Lord & Miller are masterminding the project, writing the treatment and producing the film.
As previously announced, Spider-Man will next appear in a live-action Marvel film from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, a live-action film being produced by Kevin Feige at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. The animated film from Lord & Miller, dated July 20, 2018, has Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Pascal also serving as producers.
Spider-Man, embraced all over the world, is the most successful franchise in the history of Sony Pictures, with the five films having taken in more than $4 billion worldwide.
