A damning new report about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reveals 100 artists quit the movie due to brutal working conditions. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is currently a massive success, grossing $503.4 million at the box office worldwide at the time of writing. The movie has been praised for its animation and impressive visuals, as well as its darker story and cast.
Now, a report from Vulture reveals 100 artists quit working on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse due to negative working conditions. Some of this included last-minute changes that resulted in many artists' work being scrapped from the final movie. One artist, who uses the pseudonym "Stephen," had this to say about the working conditions:
"Over 100 people left the project because they couldn’t take it anymore. But a lot stayed on just so they could make sure their work survived until the end — because if it gets changed, it’s no longer yours. I know people who were on the project for over a year who left, and now they have little to show for it because everything was changed. They went through the hell of the production and then got none of their work coming out the other side."
Other Across The Spider-Verse Working Conditions Problems Explained
Four sources who worked on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse say animators were hired in 2021 but had to wait three to six months while the movie was in its layout stage. This caused a time crunch that meant many animators had to work 11 hours a day, seven days a week. These conditions lasted more than a year, as some work for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse required five revisions for the rendering's final stage. Sources also claim every scene of the 140-minute movie had to be personally approved by writer and producer Phil Lord.
Executive vice president and general manager of Sony Pictures Imageworks Michelle Grady says the claims don't represent every artist who worked on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. However, the brutal working conditions detailed by sources are reminiscent of Marvel's poor working conditions for VFX artists, who have also reported time crunch and long hours for their projects. Even if the reported conditions don't reflect everyone's experience working on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it's clear many animators were still severely impacted, some to the point of leaving the project entirely.
The report also claims Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is still in pre-production, with some skepticism that it will be finished by its March 29, 2024, release date. With such negative working conditions being reported for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's production, its sequel would need more time to be made if less brutal working conditions were established. Perhaps establishing better working conditions for its production would keep animators from leaving as some of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse's did, leading to an even more refined final product.
Source: Vulture
