“Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” is up to $51 million in budget. Or $52 million, depending on who’s talking. What’s a million difference among friends?
The troubled show, long anticipated, is also going to take a risk. With the departures of actors Alan Cumming and Evan Rachel Wood, the producers have opted to go with no stars. The re-cast actors will be Broadway names, sources tell me. They will not be movie or TV stars or have much instant name recognition. (Lindsay Lohan, for example, will not be playing Mary Jane, although it could be a kooky idea!)
This news is added to the previous announcement that little-known Reeve Carney will play Peter Parker aka Spider Man.
Can you really have a $51 million musical without any name players? The thinking is that director Julie Taymor combined with the music of U2 should be enough to sell “Spider Man.” Experts tell me that at that budget, the show will not earn out for investors for at least five years. And that’s with every seat sold at every performance.
The average Broadway show costs a few million dollars. A biggie, like “The Addams Family,” is up around $15 million. That’s the top. Fifty one million dollars is just beyond any comprehension. It’s the price tag for a nice sized movie. Or about ten small, interesting musicals and plays.
It’s not like Taymor and Bono and The Edge can’t pull this off and have a success. Indeed, they probably will. New stars may be born. And certainly a lot of Mylanta will be ingested.
