Michael Riedel reports this morning that production on 2010’s Julie Taymor–directed, U2-scored Broadway musical Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark — now budgeted at $45 million, apparently — is on “hiatus” because money’s run out. Hilariously, that’s not even its most pressing problem. The show’s lead producer, David Garfinkle, a Chicago showbiz lawyer with little producing experience who magically usurped authority following the death of the original producer in 2005, has been unable to reign in Taymor’s excesses, hence the out-of-control budget, says Riedel. Even Bono’s mad!
Garfinkle’s reportedly lost the faith of both Marvel and Sony, and they’ll likely replace him “by the weekend” with the full backing of Bono and the Edge (we hope they’ll be in the room when it happens, standing behind David Maisel with their arms folded and heads shaking), after which production will probably resume.
A spokesman for the show insists that “there is no change in the production team” and that Spider-Man is still on track to start previews on February 25 and open the following March. But this week’s stoppage isn’t even the first one — back in June, when the budget was still a measly $40 million, Riedel reported that work had halted because a bank loan required for renovations to the Hilton Theatre hadn’t come through.
If you think all this sounds bad, just imagine how much worse it’d be if they’d hired Josh Bednarsky.
