It was a bit of a train wreck.  I saw it while it was still in previews before Julie was canned.  Wow.  Just wow. (and I mean that in the most dumbfounded, sarcastic sense possible.)  Apparently Phillip William McKinley made some edits and tightened up what he could, but all in all, he inherited, at that point, a $65 million mess.  I heard it was at $75 million when it finally opened, but at that point, it was almost beyond repair.  Spiderman has finally started turning a  profit, but it has to run to sold out houses every night for something like the next nine years to recoup the costs!

It's funny, really.  How many times have I been involved in a project with a  shoestring budget and thought, wow, think of the magic I could make with a few more dollars.  This just goes to prove that, although the money helps, it's the creativity that really matters.  All the money in the world couldn't save the show.  But on the other hand, I've been really proud of work that I've done that I've just spent pennies on!

You're right. Just look at SAW- they had hardly any budget (compared to be big shots) and it was such a huge success...