The filmmaker behind one of the highest-grossing movies of all time walked away from the superhero genre and landed two of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the process for his Venice-premiering film.
In December 2021, Jon Watts found himself standing in the back of the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard on the opening night of his last film, Spider-Man: No Way Home. The entry was one of the first major studio theatrical releases following the pandemic shutdown, and the audience was standing, screaming, crying and generally carrying on in a way that, even for the first showing of a fan-favorite superhero movie, was a spectacle all to itself.
“That was such a specific moment in time, and the reaction to that movie was just so unbelievable,” remembers Watts. It was at this point that the director came to the realization: “It’s never going to be like this, ever again.”
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