Taymor replaced as 'Spider-Man' director

NEW YORK, March 10 (UPI) -- Julie Taymor has been replaced as co-author and director of Broadway's "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," the troubled musical's producers said.

Lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris said Wednesday the show has a "newly expanded creative team in place."

"The team will be implementing a new plan to make significant and exciting revisions to the production," the producers said in a posting on the musical's Web site.

"Opening night -- previously set for March 15 -- has been rescheduled to an evening in early summer 2011," the posting said. "The additional time commitment required by this new plan will make it impossible for director and co-book writer Julie Taymor to continue on in her day-to-day duties with the production. Philip William McKinley and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa have joined the creative team to help implement new staging and book rewrites, respectively."

Cohl and Harris insisted in a joint statement Taymor is not leaving the creative team entirely.

"Her vision has been at the heart of this production since its inception and will continue to be so. Julie's previous commitments mean that past March 15, she cannot work the 24/7 necessary to make the changes in the production in order to be ready for our opening," the producers said.

U2's Bono and The Edge, who penned the music for the show, called Taymor "a truly gifted and imaginative director."

"This is an epic ride, and the standing ovations we have seen from the preview audiences have confirmed our absolute faith in the project," the rockers said in a statement. "We are listening and learning and, as a result, we have a couple of new songs we are very very excited about putting into the mix. ... We are confident it will reach its full potential and when it does, it will open."

Tickets to the $65-million superhero musical have been selling briskly since it began previews in November, representatives for the show have said. However, this is the sixth time the official opening date has been postponed while technical snafus were resolved, music tweaked and story issues ironed out.

Most reviews published during preview performances have been harsh, with critics deriding the musical's story and soundtrack.