It looks like production on Spider-Man 4 has all but fallen apart, with director Sam Raimi pulling out, Sony freaking out and re-booting the franchise, and World of Warcraft fans wondering what to expect next. This is very exciting news!

So the deal is that the movie’s director, Sam Raimi, told Sony he couldn’t move forward with the movie creatively. Sony, you’ll recall, had all sorts of suggestions about where to take 4, none of which pleased Raimi.

Sony’s solution? “Thanks, Sam, but we’re going to go in a different direction. Nice working with you.”

And that was that.

As it stands, Spider-Man 4 will be a series re-boot, à la Batman Begins, with a new director, new story arch, new cast (no more Kiersten Dunst?! Why watch it now?), etc. It may even be filmed in 3D, since that’s the popular gimmick these days, when it comes out in 2012. This leaves Raimi free to do whatever he wants. And what might he want?

Yes, World of Warcraft! While I’d have zero faith in a WoW movie—I’d be in the theater, or watching the bootleg on my laptop, yelling at the screen, “That’s not the Blood Elves’ motivation, you hacks!”—you just know whatever studio is responsible would be prepared to spend zillions of dollars marketing it.

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