#cannon group

[chernobog13]

An unused poster by Frank Frazetta for the film America 3000 (1986).

The film was from Golan-Globus/Cannon, so you know it was...not good. However, I'm pretty darn sure Frazetta's poster would've gotten a few more butts in seats than the poster they went with:

[ariel-seagull-wings]

Cannon Movie Tales Beauty and The Beast (1987)

Art by: Yvyne

@superkingofpriderock @princesssarisa

[thechainlink]

The Cannon Group's Spider-Man: The Movie - The superhero movie that never happened, thank God.

It's a pretty good time to be a Spider-Man fan right now.

You've got the Raimi trilogy, the two Amazing Spider-Man movies, the Oscar-winning Into the Spider-Verse and Tom Holland's MCU trilogy which ended with the acclaimed Spider-Man: No Way Home about a month and a half ago.

Not to mention the upcoming two-parter Across the Spider-Verse, a new animated MCU series titled Freshman Year and the recent announcement of a whole new trilogy of films with Tom Holland's Spidey.

But before all those, we nearly had this abomination.

Let's get into it.

After the poor performance of Superman III in 1983, comic book film adaptations became a lower priority until the 1990s, when they would be revitalised with movies like Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

After a deal with Roger Corman expired, in 1985 Marvel Comics optioned the Spider-Man property to The Cannon Group, a company known for getting movies done quickly without overspending. They would have until 1990 to make the movie, after which the rights would revert back to Marvel.

However, it quickly became clear that Cannon Group executives Menahem Golan and Yorem Globus completely misunderstood the character.

The treatment prepared by writer Leslie Stevens per their instruction followed photographer Peter Parker being kidnapped by a mad scientist and bombarded with radiation, mutating him into a suicidal human/tarantula hybrid. The resultant "Spider-Man" then had to fight its way out of a laboratory through the scientist's army of other mutants.

The film's planned director, Joseph Zito, said that "The producers didn't really know what Spider-Man was... they thought it was like The Wolfman."

Yeah, no shit.

Unsurprisingly, Stan Lee wasn't too happy with how his creation was being butchered and ordered a new treatment to be written by people who actually knew what the fuck they were doing with the character.

The new treatment by Ted Newsom and John Brancato introduced Dr. Otto Octavius as a mentor to a college-aged Peter Parker, with a cyclotron accident transforming them into their iconic characters Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man, respectively.

That's right. We could've gotten a shitty low-budget version of Spider-Man 2.

As rewrites continued, the studio began location scouting, storyboarding, set building, casting, the works.

(Did you know that Tom Cruise was in consideration to play Spider-Man? And now people think he'll be playing a Tony Stark variant in Dr Strange 2. Funny how these things work.)

However, the studio began to suffer as a result of their movies being shit. What a surprise.

After the expensive Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe were both failures, the studio found itself in financial difficulties. The budget for the Spider-Man movie got slashed, causing director Joseph Zito to quit and Albert Pyun to take his place. He was set to direct the Spider-Man movie back-to-back with a planned He-Man sequel, Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg.

But having sunk way too much money into both projects already, they both ended up collapsing under their own weight.

Pyun was tasked with coming up with a way to salvage the projects by making use of the sets built for both films. He came up with the story for a new movie, Cyborg, over a single weekend, which actually became a minor hit for the studio and kept it running for a few more years.

Anyway, you know how this story ends. A Spider-Man movie would languish in development hell for several more years before finally being produced by Columbia Pictures in 2002, directed by Sam Raimi and with Tobey Maguire as the star.

While I am curious to see how the Cannon Group's project could've turned out, it's definitely for the best that it got cancelled.

This might become a series where I cover other movies that never happened if I find any others that peak my interest. Stay tuned!

[vhs-ninja]

Rebecca Ferratti in Gor (1987).

[mgmpluto]

The Cannon Group, Inc. Logo

[howlingmadmoonwolf]

Ninja III: The Domination (1984)

“He's the ultimate killer. She's the perfect weapon.”

[cinematicwasteland]

Avenging Force (1986)

A senator is targeted by the Pentangle, a right wing paramilitary group. His pal, a former CIA agent and martial artist, tries to help him. The group kidnaps the agent's sister and tries to hunt him down, "The Most Dangerous Game" style.

Ridiculous plotting, cartoon villains and a revenge set-up that leaves you punching the air with bloodlust, Avenging Force is everything you could possibly want in an action movie, while instances of abrupt violence add an extra dimension. This is truly bloodthirsty stuff, and though there are usually rules about women and children in action films, by the time you reach the halfway mark you begin to realize that there are no such rules. In this films universe, nobody is safe. Ultimately, the movie thrives on the chemistry between stars Michael Dudikoff and Steve James, who seem thrilled to be reunited on film, and any fan of Cannon’s golden age will feel exactly the same way.

[grindhousecellar]