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Sam Raimi shares he believed he would never direct Spider-Man: I was very aware of how Sony didn't want me
Spider-Man director Sam Raimi celebrates 20 years of the franchise and reveals how he was not Sony's first choice for the job.
In a recent interview with Variety, Sam Raimi opened up about how he almost did not get to sit in the director's chair on the blockbuster Spider-Man franchise. While celebrating the 20th anniversary of the film series, the legendary director who kick-started the superhero craze of the 2000s shared that he was unsure if he was going to get the job.
During the chat, Raimi revealed that he was not Sony's first choice for the role, via Comicbook, "My agent, Josh Donen, said, 'They want to be honest with you. There's about 18 directors they'd rather have than you on a list," he went on and elaborated, "And I said, 'OK, well, tell them I'm number 19.'" Raimi mentioned that he dressed up in his best suit as he went to the meeting with Sony which took place back in 1999. He took his time to explain his love for the superhero and why he was the right choice.
However, Raimi at that point believed that he was not the first choice for the job and did not want to exceed his allotted meeting time which was only an hour long. When he hit the 60-minute mark, Raimi stopped his speech and thanked the executives before walking out the door. He recounted, "I was very aware of how they didn't want me. So I really didn't want to also overstay my welcome."
As for the executives, the meeting was going great as one of the Sony executives Matt Tolmach told the outlet, "The meeting was going very, very well. And all of a sudden, Sam looked at his watch, stood up, and said, 'Well, thank you very much for your time. I appreciate your having me in.'" Much to his surprise, Raimi was selected as the director of Spiderman and soon after Tobey Maguire was recruited for the iconic role.
