Most Iconic Spider-Man Scene Was Almost Cut Despite 156 Takes
The director had to convince the studio to include it in the final cut.
Nowadays, most part of what we see on the screen is cut, edited and packed with special effects so that it is almost impossible to find out how it was filmed and looked like in reality.
In modern cinema, however, there are still shots that are "clean," that is, filmed without any CGI.
In the 2002 movie Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire, there is a scene in the dining room at the very beginning – in it, the character of Kirsten Dunst, Mary Jane, steps on a puddle of juice spilled on the floor and loses her balance, and the main character, who already has incredible abilities at that moment, picks up both her and the tray full of food.
On screen everything looks more than elegant, and it is absolutely impossible to believe that the scene was shot without the use of computer graphics.
However (and this is confirmed by both the actors and the creators of the movie), director Sam Raimi wanted to shoot this episode "live" at all costs.
Maybe Spider-Man could have done it in one take, but it took actor Tobey Maguire... a whopping 156 takes.
However, as is often the case with big cinema, the Sony studio was generally opposed to the inclusion of this scene in the movie.
But Sam Raimi, remembering how hard that 16-hour day of shooting was for everyone, insisted that this episode be included in the movie.
And it's great that the director was able to convince the film company to include this scene, after all, it became one of the most memorable and impressive.
All three films of Sam Raimi's franchise received positive reviews from critics and the love of the viewers.
Despite significant discrepancies with the original comic book plot and excessive melodrama, Sam Raimi's trilogy is pleasing to watch again even 15 years after its conclusion.
Years later, the storytelling in the original trilogy may seem too naive and peaceful, the happy endings too Hollywood-ish but who cared more than 20 years ago when the whole world watched as Spider-Man flew across the screen for the first time?