"Spider-Man" villain Ifans arrested at Comic-Con (Reuters)

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – British actor Rhys Ifans, who portrays the villain Lizard in the upcoming Hollywood movie "The Amazing Spider-Man," was arrested and cited for battery at the pop culture gathering Comic-Con on Friday evening.

"He was abusive, belligerent and aggressive, and shoved a female security guard," San Diego police spokeswoman Lt. Andra Brown said in a statement on Saturday.

Brown told Reuters a member of Ifans' "entourage" did not have proper identification to enter Comic-Con, a gathering of science-fiction fans and comic book lovers. for a promotional event to tout the upcoming "Spider-Man" movie.

Ifans used his hand to push his way past security, Brown said. He cursed the staff, hurled insults at the United States and loudly complained: "I don't live here," she said.

The police spokeswoman added that Ifans' breath "smelled like alcohol" but he was not cited for public drunkenness.

The guard who was pushed, however, made a citizen's arrest, leading San Diego police to issue Ifans a citation for misdemeanor battery. He was released, and the San Diego City Attorney will decide whether to take further action.

Sony Pictures, the studio behind the "Spider-Man" movies, issued a statement to showbiz website TheWrap saying Ifans "deeply regrets the incident."

The movie is a big-budget, special effects Hollywood flick, and the studio will have a lot of money riding on Spidey (played by Andrew Garfield) when he and Ifans' Lizard crawl into theaters next year.

Ifans has starred in numerous films such as "Notting Hill," "Little Nicky" and "Pirate Radio" during a career that has spanned two decades.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)

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Bono's "Spider-Man" musical still weak, critics say (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Broadway's most expensive and ridiculed musical, "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark," suffered another round of crushing reviews on Wednesday, a day after its long-delayed official opening drew celebrities such as former president Bill Clinton and actor Robert De Niro.

The $70 million comic-book adaptation, featuring music by U2's Bono and the Edge, was lambasted earlier this year while playing in a record-breaking 180 previews as its producers struggled to overhaul the production.

While the play would take years to turn a profit, tourists and other intrigued theatergoers could keep it on Broadway far longer than usual for productions with such withering notices.

Technical problems had delayed the opening six times since it began previews last year, and the show was suspended at one point after a rash of on-stage injuries and bad publicity ultimately led to the departure of its iconoclastic director Julie Taymor.

Many critics said that while the show had changed dramatically from its initial run under Taymor, it was still hobbled by a weak plot and bad music.

New York magazine said the musical had "deteriorated from mindblowingly misbegotten carnival-of-the-damned to merely embarrassing dud."

And the New York Times said, "this singing comic book is no longer the ungodly, indecipherable mess it was in February. It's just a bore."

Somewhat embarrassingly for the high-profile rockers in one of the world's biggest bands, the music was uniformly panned.

"It's their mediocre score, as much as anything, that makes this third-rate entertainment," said the Hollywood Reporter, describing a couple of tunes as "shockingly inept."

Added New York magazine: "No amount of mulch or manure can cover up the music, which is, by far, the show's greatest weakness."

Some critics were kinder. USA Today said "the new Spider-Man is ... more in line with the winking musical adaptations of famous films and brands that have lined the theater district in recent years." The paper concluded, "it might just make it."

Even Clinton, hitherto unknown as a theater critic, jumped to its defense. In a statement he described the play as "fabulous."

The musical was originally due to open late last year. Aside from the numerous technical and creative challenges that stumped producers, a major cast member quit and the U.S. Department of Labor accused it of serious violations of workplace safety rules.

And in February, with the musical playing to packed houses for so many months, critics broke the customary embargo on running reviews before the official opening to deliver an initial round of blistering reviews.

But regardless of the latest reviews, the official opening still drew an A-list crowd. In addition to Clinton and De Niro, the audience included Taymor, Bono and The Edge, actors Matt Damon and Steve Martin, director Spike Lee, model Cindy Crawford and artist Jeff Koons.

The show features impressive stunts with "Spider-Man," played by Broadway newcomer Reeve Carney, often flying high above the audience into the top tiers and climaxing with a mid-air fight between Spider-Man and his enemy the Green Goblin. In previews the characters often got stuck mid-air.

The show's woes provided its writing staff with an opportunity to insert a few in-jokes.

"I'm a $65 million circus tragedy," the Green Goblin says at one point in the show. "Well, more like 75 million."

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by XXXX XXXXX)

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Bono's "Spider-Man" musical still weak, critics say (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Broadway's most expensive and ridiculed musical, "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark," suffered another round of crushing reviews on Wednesday, a day after its long-delayed official opening drew celebrities such as former president Bill Clinton and actor Robert De Niro.

The $70 million comic-book adaptation, featuring music by U2's Bono and the Edge, was lambasted earlier this year while playing in a record-breaking 180 previews as its producers struggled to overhaul the production.

While the play would take years to turn a profit, tourists and other intrigued theatergoers could keep it on Broadway far longer than usual for productions with such withering notices.

Technical problems had delayed the opening six times since it began previews last year, and the show was suspended at one point after a rash of on-stage injuries and bad publicity ultimately led to the departure of its iconoclastic director Julie Taymor.

Many critics said that while the show had changed dramatically from its initial run under Taymor, it was still hobbled by a weak plot and bad music.

New York magazine said the musical had "deteriorated from mindblowingly misbegotten carnival-of-the-damned to merely embarrassing dud."

And the New York Times said, "this singing comic book is no longer the ungodly, indecipherable mess it was in February. It's just a bore."

Somewhat embarrassingly for the high-profile rockers in one of the world's biggest bands, the music was uniformly panned.

"It's their mediocre score, as much as anything, that makes this third-rate entertainment," said the Hollywood Reporter, describing a couple of tunes as "shockingly inept."

Added New York magazine: "No amount of mulch or manure can cover up the music, which is, by far, the show's greatest weakness."

Some critics were kinder. USA Today said "the new Spider-Man is ... more in line with the winking musical adaptations of famous films and brands that have lined the theater district in recent years." The paper concluded, "it might just make it."

Even Clinton, hitherto unknown as a theater critic, jumped to its defense. In a statement he described the play as "fabulous."

The musical was originally due to open late last year. Aside from the numerous technical and creative challenges that stumped producers, a major cast member quit and the U.S. Department of Labor accused it of serious violations of workplace safety rules.

And in February, with the musical playing to packed houses for so many months, critics broke the customary embargo on running reviews before the official opening to deliver an initial round of blistering reviews.

But regardless of the latest reviews, the official opening still drew an A-list crowd. In addition to Clinton and De Niro, the audience included Taymor, Bono and The Edge, actors Matt Damon and Steve Martin, director Spike Lee, model Cindy Crawford and artist Jeff Koons.

The show features impressive stunts with "Spider-Man," played by Broadway newcomer Reeve Carney, often flying high above the audience into the top tiers and climaxing with a mid-air fight between Spider-Man and his enemy the Green Goblin. In previews the characters often got stuck mid-air.

The show's woes provided its writing staff with an opportunity to insert a few in-jokes.

"I'm a $65 million circus tragedy," the Green Goblin says at one point in the show. "Well, more like 75 million."

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by XXXX XXXXX)

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Bono, Taymor all smiles as 'Spider-Man' opens (AP)

NEW YORK – Julie Taymor was welcomed back with open arms Tuesday to the musical from which she was fired just three months ago, receiving a standing ovation and kisses from cast members, collaborators Bono and The Edge and the creative team after the curtain fell on opening night.

"I just want to thank everybody, especially the cast and crew, the musicians and this creative team that I got to work with for a long time," the Tony Award-winning director said from the stage.

Taymor got the biggest cheers of anyone on stage and chants of "Julie! Julie!" anticipated her emergence on the Foxwoods Theatre stage.

The Tony Award-winning co-writer and director was fired from the $70 million "Spider-Man" in March after delays, accidents, poor audience reaction and money woes turned the musical into a punch line.

Earlier in the night, Taymor, Bono and The Edge were all smiles as they posed for photos on the red carpet, a very public reconciliation from the original creators who had separated as the show's problems mounted.

"We absolutely love Julie and always have. As artists, we've been very, very close. She poured her whole life into this project," Bono said outside the Foxwoods Theatre. "Tonight she's here to host it."

The show, with music by the two members of U2, was reworked from top to bottom and officially opened after a record-setting preview period.

"We were trying to do something that's never been done. And that's very hard to do. And we were right in front of everybody," Taymor said on the red carpet. "That's difficult."

Among the celebrities on hand for opening night were President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea, Matt Damon, Barbara Walters, Cindy Crawford, Jay-Z, Steve Martin, Liam Neeson, Vanessa Redgrave, Spike Lee, Andrew Lloyd Webber and John McEnroe.

"These guys have persevered," McEnroe said, before using a tennis analogy. "It's like a long five-setter but they're still in it."

The principal cast — Reeve Carney as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Jennifer Damiano as Mary Jane Watson, T.V. Carpio as a spider-woman named Arachne, and Patrick Page as the Green Goblin — have been with the production since the tortured beginning.

Asked what he had learned about putting on a Broadway show, lead producer Michael Cohl smiled. "It's much more difficult than I ever expected," he said. "God shows you: When you get cheeky, calm down. You ain't seen nothing yet."

Bono, too, said he felt humbled following in the footsteps of such iconic songwriters as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart and Irving Berlin. "We found out it's harder than you think," he said about writing a musical.

The show's planned opening was initially set for Feb. 18, 2010, but financial issues forced producers to suspend work. A new opening was set for Dec. 21, but that was pushed back to Jan. 11, then again to Feb. 7 and then to March 15. "Spider-Man" has broken the record for the longest preview period in Broadway history.

Injuries to several cast members — including a 35-foot fall by a stunt actor playing the web-slinger that left him with a skull fracture and cracked vertebrae — marred the production, as well as the defection of a lead actress after she suffered a concussion.

Many theater critics grew impatient and their reviews that appeared in early February — a violation of the established agreement by critics to wait for opening night to weigh in — were mostly savage pans.

Producers finally intervened in March, firing Taymor and shutting down the show for four weeks to retool. Taymor was replaced by Philip William McKinley, who directed the Hugh Jackman musical "The Boy From Oz," in 2003.

McKinley, former director for Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey, said the red carpet reminded him of the Big Top. Asked how he felt, McKinley said, "Relief as well as excitement." He later posed with Taymor, Bono and The Edge.

Co-book writer Glenn Berger and newly hired playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who has written comic books and for the HBO series "Big Love," toned down the story's darker themes, and expanded the romantic angle between Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

Bono was determined to move forward. "Things got chaotic. It's all in the past now," he said. "It's just one of the most wonderful things I've ever seen. Now you just forget about the past. I think it's going to have a very, very bright future."

Consistently strong weekly revenues are critical for the show to break even and to begin repaying investors. Last week the show earned $1.2 million — a little more than 60 percent of its $1.9 million potential.

"We've heard all the news about it," said author Janet Langhart, married to former Defense Secretary of Defense William Cohen, as they waited to enter the theater. "Finally we're turning on the light."

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National Writer Jocelyn Noveck contributed to this report.

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Online:

http://spidermanonbroadway.marvel.com

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Mark Kennedy can be reached at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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"Spider-Man" producer Laura Ziskin dies of cancer (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Laura Ziskin, the Hollywood producer who helped turn "Pretty Woman" heroine Julia Roberts into a star and brought "Spider-Man" to the big screen, died on Sunday after a public battle with breast cancer. She was 61.

According to a statement from Sony Pictures, where her production company was based, Ziskin died at her Los Angeles home after fighting the disease for seven years.

In 2008 Ziskin, along with other entertainment notables including newswoman Katie Couric, co-founded Stand Up To Cancer, an advocacy group for cancer research. Later that year -- and again last September -- Ziskin produced all-star telethons that aired live on the major U.S. networks.

In addition to making movies, Ziskin also produced the Academy Awards broadcast twice, and served as president of Fox 2000 Pictures, a feature film division of 20th Century Fox.

She was perhaps best known for producing the three "Spider-Man" movies starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. The trilogy grossed $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office. The franchise is currently being overhauled with a new cast and a focus on the superhero's early years.

Among the films Ziskin championed at Fox 2000 was the searingly brutal drama "Fight Club," starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Following an advance screening that left other studio executives bewildered and angry, Ziskin boldly proclaimed it was brilliant, according to author Sharon Waxman's "Rebels on the Backlot."

Still she did blanch at one comical line -- "I want to have your abortion -- and begged director David Fincher to replace it. He reluctantly agreed, but the new line was even more grotesque and she begged him to revert to the old line. He refused, according to the book.

Ziskin, a Los Angeles native who started out as a personal assistant, started making features in the mid-1980s. She teamed with actress Sally Field to produce "Murphy's Romance," a 1985 comedy-drama for which James Garner received an Oscar nomination.

She hired hot young stars Kevin Costner for "No Way Out" (1987) and Dennis Quaid for "D.O.A." (1988), and helped transform Roberts into Hollywood's biggest sensation with "Pretty Woman," the 1990 smash which she executive produced.

Ziskin rescued legendary Hollywood scribe Buck Henry ("The Graduate") from a long dry spell by recruiting him to write the adaptation for "To Die For," a dark comedy directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Nicole Kidman.

By the time it was released in 1995, Ziskin was ensconced at Fox 2000 where she also oversaw such films as "Courage Under Fire," "One Fine Day," "Soul Food" and "The Thin Red Line."

In 2002, she became the first woman to produce the Oscar broadcast solo. The show, presented for the first time at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, also marked the first Oscarcast appearance of the Cirque du Soleil acrobatic troupe. She also produced the 2007 ceremony.

She was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, and underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy, a stem-cell transplant and radiation. The cancer returned in 2009, having spread to her liver and bones.

Sony Pictures said a memorial would be planned. Ziskin is survived by her husband Alvin Sargent, an Oscar-winning screenwriter ("Ordinary People," "Julia") who collaborated on the "Spider-Man" films; and a daughter from her first marriage.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman)

(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)

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Bono talks of struggles, triumphs of `Spider-Man' (AP)

NEW YORK – With the Broadway premiere of the beleaguered "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" finally in sight, Bono and The Edge, who wrote the music and lyrics for the musical, were in a jovial mood as they previewed songs from the accompanying soundtrack.

"It's weird to be a $70 million underdog," U2 frontman Bono joked Thursday night before a performance of the play at Foxwoods Theatre.

The musical — the most expensive in Broadway history — was supposed to open last year. Years in the making, it was one of the most anticipated productions to reach Broadway. But there were injuries, creative problems and scathing early reviews during its seemingly endless preview stage.

The official opening was delayed several times, and Julie Taymor, the show's director and lead visionary, was ousted in March, though her name remains on the credits.

Speaking before a crowd of industry insiders in the theater's lobby, Bono hailed Taymor and called her a "card-carrying genius."

Bono said he and The Edge were privileged to work with Taymor, but he also suggested that she was so involved, perhaps she wasn't able to see some of the play's flaws.

"She's so involved with the details of her work and perhaps she got a little tired. ... She got so close to it perhaps in the last moments she couldn't see it," he said.

Later, Bono said he hoped that with the opening of the musical, people would focus more on the creative part of the production than its problems.

The Edge said working on "Spider-Man" was "an education."

"We're very proud of the songs," he said.

The soundtrack to the musical hits stores Tuesday, the same day as the official Broadway opening.

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Fired "Spider-Man" director Taymor claims royalties (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Julie Taymor, the ousted director of Broadway's troubled "Spider-Man" musical, is seeking an estimated $300,000 in unpaid royalties from producers, the union representing her said on Thursday.

The union filed an arbitration claim on behalf of Taymor, who was replaced on the $70 million show -- the most expensive in Broadway history -- in March while it was still in previews.

Her ouster followed repeated delays to the official opening, scathing reviews, and several accidents involving the show's high-wire stunts.

"Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark", with music by Bono and The Edge, closed for three weeks in April for a major revamp by a new director. Its official opening is now set for June 14.

Despite the bad publicity, the show is making more than $1 million at the box office every week and frequently places among the top three attractions on Broadway.

"Taymor has given nine years of her life to this project," Laura Penn, executive director of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, the union filing the claim, said in a statement.

"The producer has absolutely no right, legally and ethically, to withhold royalties that are due to her," the statement said.

Penn told Reuters that Taymor received only her original director's fee of $125,000 about five years ago, but has not received any of the royalties owed to her since preview tickets went on sale last November.

Taymor, the creative force behind the successful stage adaptation of Disney's "The Lion King," is still credited as the show's "original director," and should therefore continue to receive director royalties even after her exit from the production, the union said.

Producers declined comment on the claim.

The arbitration filing is restricted to Taymor's work as a director, Penn said. She also has a separate contract as an author of the show.

Taymor's spokeswoman, Mara Buxbaum, said Taymor was "certainly aware and cooperative with the claim,".

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jill Serjeant)

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