Director shortlist for new Spider-Man movie

According to Deadline, there are six directors in the running for the planned Spider-Man movie. Due for release in 2017, the movie will be the debut solo film for the webslinging superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and after an agreement was reached between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, they’re apparently close to securing a director for the project. Here’s the shortlist, with the directors’ best-known movie included in brackets:

Jonathan Levine (50/50)
Ted Melfi (St. Vincent)
Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect)
John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein (Vacation)
Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite).

Of these picks, there’s a certain similarity in terms of tone and subject matter that their films all share. It’s also been reported that Kevin Feige, executive producer at Marvel, wants a John Hughes-esque vibe for Spider-Man’s movies, and he’ll get it with any of these people – but we’re led to believe that a decision is likely to be made by the end of next week, so they’ll have to make their choice soon. The hunt for Peter Parker also continues, but expect that to be announced very soon too.