The character of Mary Jane Watson will be back in Peter Parker’s life in Sony’s “Spider-Man” reboot after all, TheWrap has learned — and Emma Stone is reportedly on the studio’s short-list for one of the film’s two female leads.
You do the math.
The talented redhead is also said to be circling the female lead opposite her “Superbad” co-star Jonah Hill in the studio’s feature adaptation of the Johnny Depp TV series “21 Jump Street.”
Earlier reports have indicated that Spidey’s principal love interest would not be appearing in Marc Webb’s movie. However, Deal Central is told that the “Spider-Man” reboot will feature not one but two female leads, and that the Mary Jane character is one of them, along with Gwen Stacy.
According to Variety, other young actresses on the supposed short-list for “Spider-Man” include Lily Collins (“The Blind Side”), Teresa Palmer (“The Sorceror’s Apprentice”) and “Alice in Wonderland” star Mia Wasikowska.
Provided the two female leads are, in fact, Mary Jane and Gwen, Stone and Wasikowska would be pretty perfect casting, though Collins and Palmer aren’t such a bad plan B.
Variety is right to assume that Stone would have an advantage over her peers due to her cozy relationship with Sony, whose Columbia and Screen Gems divisions released “Zombieland” and “Easy A,” respectively. Columbia also released the Stone movies “Superbad” and “The House Bunny.”
The reason being that Sony has been supporting its young stars by re-teaming with them on the studio’s most important projects. “The Social Network” stars Andrew Garfield and Rooney Mara beat out formidable competition to land the coveted roles in “Spider-Man” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
The question is whether Stone would have to choose between “Spider-Man” and “21 Jump Street,” though it helps that both projects are set up at the same studio.
Phil Lord will direct “21 Jump Street” from a script by Hill and Josh Appelbaum, who co-wrote the fourth “Mission: Impossible” for Paramount. Production is scheduled to begin early next year.
Stone next stars in Tate Taylor’s adaptation of “The Help,” which DreamWorks will release April 14, 2011. Her high school comedy “Easy A” recently earned $18 million its opening weekend.
Stone is represented by WME.
