Reeve Carney will portray Peter Parker in the new musical Spider-Man, Turn off the Dark, slated to open on Broadway in 2010, producer Michael Cohl announced Nov. 6. (AP Photo/Marvel Entertainment)The Spider-Man Broadway musical, with a score by U2's Bono and The Edge, has netted its webslinger.
Producer Michael Cohl says rock singer Reeve Carney will play the title role in Spider-Man, Turn off the Dark, slated to open in 2010.
The selection of a leading man is at least an indication the troubled production could actually become reality. Work on the musical stopped last summer, reportedly because producers couldn't raise enough funds.
"Knowing the details and intricacies of this wildly ambitious project, I want to 'turn off the dark' on all the wild speculation about the show — it's moving forward," Cohl said in a release.
Directed by stage veteran Julie Taymor, whose work has also ventured onto cinemas, the musical's budget has been estimated at $40 million US.
In addition, its performance venue, the Hilton Theatre, has had to go through extensive renovations to accommodate the technicalities of the production.
Carney is the frontman for the band Carney, which recently released its first full-length album, Mr. Green.
The 26-year-old singer has appeared in several films including Taymor's upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest.
The Spider-Man cast also includes Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson, Parker's girl friend, and Alan Cumming in the role of Norman Osborn, whose alter ego is the Green Goblin.
"There was never a question in my mind that Spider-Man would happen — it was just when," said Taymor, who has directed The Lion King musical and Beatles music-inspired film Across the Universe.
The story will centre on Spider-Man's origins as well as new plots.
With files from The Associated Press
