John Malkovich in Bath

If I’d had room for a longer headline, it would’ve been “John Malkovich confirmed as villain in that Spider-Man 4 movie that might not happen.”  Which is to say that the rumors about him playing the Vulture seem to be true, insofar as he’ll be playing the character if that character actually ends up in the final script — Spider-man 4 currently being on hold while Sam Raimi and Sony work out their story differences, one of which being that Raimi wants Vulture as the villain and Sony wants someone else.  Phew.  From BadTaste.it (via GeekTyrant):

When conductor Simona Ventura asked [Malkovich] about his role of Vulture in the movie, he not only didn’t deny his involvement, but confirmed that he’s waiting for the final script to be sent to him, and that the movie has been delayed. He also hopes that shooting will begin as soon as possible.

It’s my job to report this stuff because it’s big business and people care, and even I care, to some degree, but every time I write about comic book movie production troubles, I get this mental image of two middle-aged guys in suits and briefcases in a board room pouting and refusing to talk to each other.  “You know Jenkins?  He thinks Mighty Mouse could beat up Superman.  Guy’s a f*ckin’ child.  I can’t even look at him.”