Los Angeles: British actor Tom Holland will play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the next adventure of the web-casting superhero, to be directed by Jon Watts. The casting on the movie, set for a release on July 28, 2017, was announced by Marvel and Sony Pictures. Producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal conducted an extensive worldwide search for the actor and director before finalising Holland, 19 and the “Cop Car” director.
olland, a young rising star, best known for his work in “The Impossible” and TV drama “Wolf Hall”, was chosen following a series of complex screen tests. Watts also went through multiple meetings with Feige, Pascal and the studio, before landing the job. Before Holland, the superhero was played by Tobey Maguire in the original “Spider-Man” films and Andrew Garfield in the reboot series, titled “The Amazing Spider-Man”.
“I’ve worked with a number of up-and-coming directors who have gone on to be superstars and believe that Jon is just such an outstanding talent. For Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom’s screen tests were special… we are off to a roaring start,” said Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairman.
Feige and team spent a lot of time with Jon and found “his take and work inspiring.” Pascal said they wanted to find a “vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying” one of the most well-known characters in the world.
“With Tom, we’ve found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man’s story into the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” she added. The USD 4 billion franchise will get a new direction with the new retelling of the story.
