As night fell, the city of Los Angeles was bathed in a soft, peacock-blue hue—not quite the vivid purple from *La La Land*, but with a clarity that made the sky mesmerizing to look at.
After parting ways with Jack in the parking lot, the two headed home separately. By the time Anson reached his place, his stomach was growling in protest, practically glued to his back with hunger, and his blood sugar was dropping fast.
From a distance, he could see that his home was brightly lit.
As he opened the door, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the hall. James Franco's footsteps were particularly light and quick as he rushed down the stairs, his arms full of clothes.
It was like a whirlwind.
"Hey, Anson!"
James called out as he passed by the doorway, but didn't stop, instead rushing straight into the living room.
Chris Evans, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, straightened up slightly and waved at Anson. "You're home late tonight."
Anson casually replied, "We wrapped filming, and after work, I hung out for a bit. But, are you going on a trip?"
It only took one glance to notice the two open suitcases in the middle of the living room floor, with James frantically stuffing clothes into them.
Compared to *The Princess Diaries*, *James Dean* was a smaller, independent production with a much shorter shooting schedule. It wrapped up in just over a month, and since then, James had been taking it easy for a while.
However, James wasn't the type to sit idle. His downtime was different from others—he was always out and about, tinkering with something.
This scene was surprising, yet not entirely unexpected. Anything could happen with James, and somehow it would always make sense.
James, holding a pair of shoes—one a pair of canvas sneakers and the other work boots—turned to Anson and asked, "Which should I choose for a youthful, sporty look?"
"For a relaxed vibe, go with the sneakers. For a more polished look, choose the boots," Anson quickly offered his opinion, glancing around before grabbing a bag of chips from the table. He opened it and popped a few into his mouth to soothe his rumbling stomach.
James looked between the two pairs, then tossed the work boots into the suitcase.
Chris, noticing how sweaty but radiant Anson looked, had many questions on his mind. But tonight, the spotlight was on James, so he held back his curiosity and cheerfully said, "Aren't you going to share the big news?"
"Oh!"
James suddenly remembered, turning around with open arms towards Anson.
"I got an audition for *Spider-Man*."
One second, two seconds—
Anson finally processed the information—it was good news, very good news. "Wow!" he exclaimed, then couldn't help but exclaim again, "Wow!"
In his previous life, James did indeed star in *Spider-Man*, though not as Spider-Man, Peter Parker, but as Harry Osborn, the Green Goblin's son. This role was his breakout performance, establishing him as Hollywood's indie film darling.
So, the news wasn't surprising to Anson.
But reality was different.
Living with a group of young actors, all still in the grind of auditions, rejections, and more auditions, day after day, Anson could truly feel the frustration and helplessness of the pre-fame struggle. The waiting was much harder to endure than he had imagined.
Now, after waiting and enduring, the dawn had finally appeared. The joy and relief were overwhelming, flooding his mind in an instant—
Even though Anson already knew the outcome of the audition, he was genuinely happy for James.
"Congratulations!"
"Wow, I mean, congratulations!"
James could feel the sincerity in Anson's words, and his smile blossomed without restraint. He tried to be modest, saying, "It's just an audition, just an audition."
Anson waved it off, completely unbothered. "Trust me, you'll nail it. They'll definitely see your charm—they should give you the opportunity."
Although it wasn't the role of Peter Parker, they did indeed give James a chance.
James couldn't help but rub his hands together in anticipation. "You really think so? I do too, haha." But after saying that, James couldn't hide a trace of nervousness. "Though, I've heard the competition might be fiercer than we imagine."
Anson immediately caught on. "So, they didn't keep the project name under wraps."
That meant open competition.
James nodded. "For this project, even if they wanted to keep it secret, it would be impossible."
"I heard from my agent that the project has been in development since 1985. It even passed through James Cameron's hands last year. Cameron went so far as to write a 45-page script, but there was a disagreement between the two companies holding the rights."
"In the end, it didn't materialize."
"Over the years, the adaptation rights have bounced around between various movie companies and independent studios, but they finally landed with Sony Columbia Pictures. However, even picking a director has been a nightmare."
The development of *Spider-Man* was fraught with difficulties, far more than one might imagine. After all, this was an era dominated by science fiction and romance films.
The core issue was originality.
From the 1990s to the first decade of the 21st century, the film market was still flourishing with original content. Different genres and themes were constantly emerging. While superhero movies were gradually being released, they weren't any more vibrant or significant than other genres.
It wasn't until 2008, when the originality of the film market hit a bottleneck, that *Iron Man* seized the opportunity to rise, prompting major Hollywood studios to turn their attention to adaptations—from novels to comics, games, and even live-action versions of animations.
This shift completely transformed the market landscape.
In 2000, superhero films were just another genre in the broader film market, and comics were still a niche interest.
Naturally, a comic book adaptation like *Spider-Man* faced numerous challenges during development. It wasn't just *Spider-Man*—other projects faced similar hurdles.
Besides James Cameron, who was close to directing *Spider-Man*, other directors like Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay, Tony Scott, Tim Burton, Chris Columbus, David Fincher, M. Night Shyamalan, and even Ang Lee had all been in discussions for the project at various points.
Among them, David Fincher and Chris Columbus came closest.
David Fincher planned to create a story based on the death of Peter Parker's first love, Gwen Stacy, but Sony Columbia rejected the idea.
Chris Columbus, on the other hand, was simultaneously in talks with Sony Columbia and Warner Bros. He eventually chose the latter and became the director of *Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone*.
After much back and forth, Sony Columbia Pictures' co-president Amy Pascal finally made the decisive call to hire Sam Raimi as the director. Raimi, a lifelong fan of the original *Spider-Man* comics, eagerly accepted the offer.
However, this decision met with opposition from Marvel, the original comic's publisher, who didn't like Sam Raimi.
The reason was simple: Raimi was known for directing horror films, and they didn't think he was suitable for adapting a superhero comic.
The outcome?
Fueled by his passion for *Spider-Man*, Sam Raimi, against his agent's advice, took his storyboard and concept ideas to the meeting.
The meeting lasted a full hour, during which Raimi successfully convinced the executives and producers from both companies of his vision, securing the job.
After all the twists and turns, the director for *Spider-Man* was finally set, allowing the casting process to officially begin.