Tobey Maguire’s Marvel Movie Almost Suffered the Loss of $200K After Security Guard Stole From Spider-Man Set
Superhero characters have a massive fan base around the world. Their tremendous popularity has drawn fans to their movies and merchandise related to their favorite characters, resulting in a high demand for their products like suits, masks, action figures, etc.
What if the exclusive original suits of our beloved characters go missing? Since it primarily falls under security issues, losing such a valuable product would be devastating. However, Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man had to deal with a comparable issue when the $200K Spider-Man suit was stolen from the production of the 2002 movie.
The Spider-Man set was mysteriously hit by the disappearance of the costume
Back in 2001, during the filming of Tobey Maguire’s greatest Spider-Man hit, four Spider-Man suits mysteriously disappeared from the set of the movie. Considering the seriousness of the issue, as each suit was estimated at around $50,000, eventually prompted the studio to tighten the security measures and launch an investigation.
Also Read: David Fincher Couldn’t Agree With One Spider-Man Scene That Became a Dealbreaker for Sony
The identical Spider-Man suits are one-piece molded suits printed with a computer-generated pattern that creates a quasi-3-D effect.
In response to BBC News, a spokesperson stated, “We consider these costumes valuable property and we hope this reward will get them back”. In an effort to recover the missing suits, Columbia Pictures offered a reward of $25,000 for their safe return.
The culprit’s 1989 theft of Batman suit unraveled
After an 18-month-long investigation, police finally found the suits. The exclusive pieces were recovered from various regions, like New York, Los Angeles, and even Japan. The police arrested the culprit, who turned out to be the security guard employed on the set of the Sony film.
Followed by the arrest of the security guard and his friend, shocking details emerge as it was not the first instance of him abusing his authority. Previously, in 1989, he had stolen the Batman costume from the set, which was valued at an astounding $150,000!
All the missing suits were eventually found and returned to the studio. The security guard who was responsible for the theft was imprisoned for robbery and was blacklisted from the industry.
