After Three Years Of "Meh" 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' Musical Is Off Broadway

Whoever thought doing a Spider-Man musical was a good idea shouldn’t be allowed to write things down, because it wasn’t, and after a huge waste of time, money and effort, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has officially been removed from Broadway and shipped out to Vegas. The whole thing has been a nightmare, with major injuries and huge, high-profile legal cases blighting the musical’s progress.

The thing cost $75m to create (making it the most expensive musical ever), and while the show has grossed $203m, the high - $1m-per-week! - running costs have rendered it a financial disaster. Producer Jeremiah J Harris thinks a reconfigured version of the show will prosper in a different city, according to The New York Times.

"We could run for probably another three to five years being stuck in the middle. We think it will play Las Vegas with a greater bang than it did in New York,” explained Harris. “Economically we have a greater opportunity in the Las Vegas market," added the producer, who said the show would return in 2015.

"Over the last week we've finalized all the creative deals, and are in serious negotiations with a venue in Las Vegas." Anything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong for the Spider-Man musical. First, director Julie Taymor left the production after just six months of previews, by which time the book and score had been re-written numerous times.

In addition, performers were seriously injured during the show, with grievances including cracked vertebrae and broken ankles. One actor, Christopher Tierney, suffered a fractured skull, a fractured shoulder blade, four broken ribs and three broken vertebrae during a fall. Ouch. And it didn’t stop there: the reviews weren’t exactly glowing. The New York Times said it may "rank among the worst" musicals in history. And, it featured music from U2; what a list of problems.