Keep dreamin', Jim.
Sony Pictures has confirmed Mr. Titanic will not be involved--as either director or writer--in the studio's upcoming Spider-Man film project.
Cameron had pursued the Spidey project for years, even preparing a treatment some time ago that generated quite a bit of noise among Industry playas.
Now, according to trade reports, Sony's Columbia--which last month resolved the bulk of a number of lawsuits that entangled Spidey's film rights for years--has hired screenwriter David Koepp to start spinning the project.
This just a month after representatives for the filmmaker told E! Online he wouldn't be helming the Spider-Man flick, either. (That statement followed news of Cameron dropping out of a planned Planet of the Apes remake.)
Still, Koepp--whose credits include both Jurassic Park pictures, as well as Mission: Impossible, Death Becomes Her and Snake Eyes--may reportedly incorporate parts of the legendary Cameron treatment in the new script.
No director has been named for the Spider-Man project yet, although the big-budget venture is reportedly drawing interest from a number of big-name filmmakers.
And while Sony has resolved most of the Spidey suits, there's one legal roadblock remaining: A Los Angeles Superior Court trial begins Tuesday to determine if Viacom does indeed own the TV distribution rights to Spider-Man.
In the '80s, Viacom was signed by Marvel to a Spider-Man distribution deal, but that got mucked up when producers contracted by Marvel to actually make the film--of which, there were several--went bankrupt.