It wasn’t a universal embrace which greeted Andrew Garfield when he first clawed the spider-suit from Tobey Maguire, who had broken box office records playing Peter Parker in three Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies between 2002-2007, which grossed close to BD1 billion worldwide. But thankfully for superhero fans reboot The Amazing Spider-Man was a massive success, declared the most commercially successful reboot ever. As a markedly more confident Garfield returns to the role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, we look back at the fortunes of five other recent reboots.
Batman Begins (2005)
Christopher Nolan sidestepped the silliness of the previous four films with a moody exploration of why Bruce Wayne first donned the bat suit. Shame he lost the plot by 2012’s bloated and confusing The Dark Knight Rises.
Casino Royale (2006)
Stripping away the excesses of the Pierce Brosnan-era 007 ensured that Daniel Craig’s revamped version of Bond was a hit, and remains thrilling three films on – 2012’s Skyfall is the best Bond since GoldenEye (1995).
Prometheus (2012)
Ridley Scott’s long-awaited return to the Alien saga delved deep into his fictitious universe in an attempt to explain how the species began. Engaging, but unessential.
Star Trek (2009)
Somehow, the geekiest of all franchises was given a fresh sheen by Spielberg protégé JJ Abrams. The success of last year’s follow-up Star Trek Into Darkness suggests there may be plenty more where that came from (it will officially be Star Trek 13 coming up next).
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Instead of more time travel, director McG took us back to the future where Terminator began – and failed miserably. Just what must James Cameron think? Maybe someday soon he’ll stop playing with little blue aliens and tell us.
