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Spider-Man reboot snags Vacation screenwriting team

After webbing up its director and star, the upcoming Spider-Man reboot now appears to have found its writing team. A new report indicates that the Vacation writing/directing duo of John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein are in talks to pen the script for the still-untitled webslinger movie.

The pair were initially in contention to direct the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter, before Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios decided to go with Cop Car filmmaker Jon Watts.

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The pair collaborated on the script for Vacation — a sequel and soft-reboot of the National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise — which will also be their directorial debut. Previously, they penned scripts for Horrible Bosses, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and the animated sequel Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, among other projects. Their attachment to the Spider-Man movie is likely a good indication that it will lean heavily on comedy elements.

If the report proves true, the pair will join Watts and Spider-Man star Tom Holland (The Impossible) in bringing Peter Parker’s superhero alter ego into Marvel’s cinematic universe. Holland is expected to make his debut as Spider-Man in next year’s Captain America: Civil War along with Marisa Tomei as Aunt May.

While the solo Spider-Man movie is  not expected to retell the character’s origin story, it will offer an introduction of sorts for the popular superhero that will frame his place in Marvel’s ever-expanding cinematic universe. The film is currently scheduled to premiere July 28, 2017.

As for Daley and Goldstein, the duo’s Vacation hits theaters July 29. The film stars Ed Helms as Rusty Griswold, the son of franchise characters Clark (Chevy Chase) and Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) Griswold, who attempts to recreate his family’s original trip to the Wally World theme park — as chronicled in the 1983 film — in order to bring his family closer.

Rick Marshall
Former Contributing Editor, Entertainment
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
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