Kevin Mazur/WireImage.comThe drama revolving around Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark keeps getting more intriguing than whatever action takes place on the stage every night. Things didn't end well between director Julie Taymor and the musical she co-envisioned with U2. Months after Taymor departed the production because of "previous commitments," she last week sued the Spider-Man producers over copyright infringement. Now, in an interview with Esquire magazine, she's firing back with words. Her first revelation is that there were no "previous commitments" that forced her to leave the show. With Turn Off the Dark already facing so much criticism based on its disastrous preview performances, producers simply said their longtime director had somewhere else to be. However, the axing came as a "complete shock" to Taymor.
Part of the reason Taymor is fighting back now is because she feels like some people involved in the musical have taken some shots at her since her March dismissal. Producers called the director "inefficient" and "inflexible," and even U2's The Edge said Taymor seemed "exhausted" and "overwrought" before she was finally axed. "There's no doubt by the end of February, when I felt all of this stuff happening, that I was exhausted by that, but not by the show and not by the inspiration that I was getting from the actors," Taymor told Esquire. "What was exhausting was the fact that the producers were absent... Those people weren't there, so how does Bono know? I'm sorry."
Despite all the terrible preview performance reviews -- "very dark times," as the director calls it -- Taymor continues to stand by her abominable version of Spider-Man, even going as far as insinuating that the musical was even too ahead of its time for the critics. "I love the script. I like the music. Our version was way too long and needed to be cut, but I still think it was a valid story ... and by the end, it was really working." Taymor said. "This is the process. We unfortunately had people blogging that process. Some people say, 'Oh, well, it's the twenty-first century and you better get used to it.' Fine, but that means people will not be able to experiment and not be able to take risks, because you make mistakes along the way."
All in all, it sounds like Taymor is upset that U2 didn't have her back on Spider-Man because she wouldn't compromise her vision for the show. If producers do pay Taymor back for all those royalties she's owed, we're betting she doesn't take that money and buy a $658 Achtung Baby.