HOLLYWOOD -- Spider-Man 3 has about as much chance of being squashed at the box office as you have of gaining the proportionate strength of a spider after being bit by a radiation-soaked arachnid.
Already industry pundits, stoked for the film's debut on Friday, are placing bets about the opening weekend tally: $100 million US? $120 million? $150 million?
Still, should the hyperbolically-hyped sequel -- budgeted at a thrifty $250 million US and change -- somehow, impossibly under-perform, Tobey Maguire knows he'll never have to worry about work again.
"I've had many offers to show up at kids' parties," the 31-year-old actor deadpans during a news conference at the Four Seasons to promote his latest foray as Stan Lee's friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler.
That Maguire can laugh about such a fate -- one in which swigs of bourbon punctuate endless auto-show autograph sessions -- demonstrates just how satiated our culture has become in super-hero lore. If performers from Adam West to Christopher Reeve struggled to establish an identity of their own in past decades, nowadays, a performer isn't really a superstar until he's anchored at least one men-in-tights franchise. (Hence, Edward Norton toplining The Incredible Hulk.)
Even after three spins as Spidey, Maguire shrugs off concerns of being typecast.
"As long as I have other opportunities to make other types of movies. Certainly I'm identified with this film or with this character and I don't think that's going to go away anytime soon. I'm not fighting that or resisting it. As long as I get to make some other movies, I'm fine with that."
Which begs the question of whether or not Maguire is hanging up his red-and-blue tights for good. The actor, who was nearly replaced in Spider-Man 2 by Jake Gyllenhaal, sounds, not surprisingly, indecisive about whether he'll return for the already-in-the-works Spider-Man 4.
"If there was a great story there and there was something interesting for Peter Parker to do ... and (director Sam Raimi) was involved and the right cast was in place, at that point, I would consider it ... I'm not saying I will do a fourth one at all. I'm saying I'm not committed either way and we'll see what happens."
Asked, however, if he would return without Raimi, Maguire is more definite.
"No," he says simply.
It's a sentiment echoed by Raimi, the self-described "Mr. Low Budget Schlock Meister Horror Thriller Guy," who has found himself responsible for one of Hollywood's more lucrative franchises.
"It would be difficult to make (Spider-Man 4) without Tobey and (Kirsten Dunst) -- at least for me it would be."
Given the reluctance of either the stars or Raimi to commit outright to another sequel, it's fitting -- and probably wise -- that Spider-Man 3 sews up the plot threads started by the previous two instalments.
Picking up where the last sequel left off, the film finds everything, for once, going well for Peter Parker. He's about to propose to long-time love Mary Jane Watson (Dunst) and, no longer a feared vigilante, is regarded as a beloved hero. All of which has made the once-downtrodden do-gooder arrogant. "Peter Parker falls victim to his own pride," Raimi says of the film's central theme.
It's a theme personified, in various ways, by the story's trio of villains: a still-vengeful Harry Osborn (James Franco) who has become the new Green Goblin; The Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), a felon whose molecular structure becomes unglued during a scientific experiment; and, most significantly, an alien symbiotic life-form that bonds with Parker and magnifies his darkest traits -- even turning his costume black. (As any comics fan knows, the creature eventually goes on to bond with Parker's Daily Bugle rival Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) to create the conjoined, white-fanged entity known as Venom.) The inclusion of Venom allowed Maguire and Raimi a luxury as far as sequels go --- the chance to portray new areas of Parker's personality.
"We were exploring new territory," Maguire says.
"It was exciting for me ... It's a new side to Peter Parker and something I think is kind of unexpected to see."
Including a mid-point dance sequence -- yes, you read that correctly -- which looks suspiciously like a riff on John Travolta's opening strut from Saturday Night Fever. While Maguire says he wasn't referencing Travolta specifically, he does admit, "I had the most fun doing those scenes."
Yet those sequences almost didn't happen. Comics aficionado that he may be, Raimi was nevertheless reluctant to put Venom into the sequel. Eventually he ceded to the demands of producer Avi Arad.
"Avi said, 'Sam, listen, you are so aware of all of these '70s villains, but you really need to incorporate Venom into this story because the fans really love Venom. Don't be so selfish with villains that you know and love. So I said, 'Okay' ... I had to go to school ... as to who he was and trying to satisfy the comic book fans and incorporate Venom into the story."
After all, Raimi knows a thing or two about the importance of pleasing fanboys: When he changed Spider-Man's web shooters from mechanical ones to organic ones in the first movie, "(The fans) sent 2,000 petitions to the chairman of Sony to have me removed from the picture, so I'm tying to steer clear of that this time."
TOBEY MAGUIRE:
BORN: June 27, 1975 in Santa Monica, Calif.
BEST FRIEND: Leonardo DiCaprio
NON-SPIDER-MAN RESUME: The Ice Storm, Pleasantville, The Cider House Rules, Seabiscuit, The Good German.
OFF-SCREEN: Engaged to Jennifer Meyer, daughter of studio executive Ron Meyer. The pair has a daughter, Ruby, born Nov. 10, 2006. Of fatherhood, he says, "It's amazing. I love being a dad. I love my daughter. It's like everybody says, all the cliches are true. It's indescribable. You don't really get it until you're there."
WHAT HE REALLY THINKS OF SPIDERS: "I'm fine with spiders ... I saw a huge spider in my house last night and just left it there. But Jen said I needed to get it outside because of the baby. So, you know, I've got to escort the spiders outside now."
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