So yeah, here are some near shocking casting updates, both of which are surprising for various reasons….
First, it turns out that Shailene Woodley isn’t just being bumped from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” — she’s out of the franchise entirely. WTF. Indeed, hot on the heels of the news that her character, Mary Jane Watson was having her scenes removed from the super sequel, THR reports that when “The Amazing Spider-Man 3” rolls around, “It is likely that Woodley will not return and that the part will be recast.” Great work everyone!
Why it makes sense in anyone’s mind to let go of a rising actress like Woodley, who has the award-winning “The Spectacular Now” coming later this summer and her own franchise with “Divergent” next year, is beyond us (though maybe some studio types were worried about her appearing in two big blockbusters for rival companies). But the official line being given by director Marc Webb is that they want to simplify the plot. No, really.
“I made a creative decision to streamline the story and focus on Peter and Gwen and their relationship,” Webb said in a statement. “Shailene is an incredibly talented actress and while we only shot a few scenes with Mary Jane, we all love working with her.” Granted, she only worked a few days on the movie, apparently, but you don’t hire an actress of her quality without larger plans in mind. Like everything else that’s going on in this series (which includes multiple characters being added — so much for streamlining), decisions seems to be happening in a run-and-gun manner. Anyway, let the speculation on Mary Jane Watson begin…again….
Meanwhile, remember when Sandra Bullock was close to signing to play the mean Miss Hanningan in the “Annie” remake? Well, The Wrap reports it ain’t happening, as talks fell through. So we’ll just have to wait and see who Will Smith and Jay-Z get instead for their redo starring Quvenzhané Wallis and Jamie Foxx.