The last "Spider-Man" movie began with Mary Jane singing and featured an odd scene of Peter Parker dancing suavely around a bar.

The interludes seemed out of place, jarring. Reviewers suggested that perhaps the film's director, Sam Raimi, was revealing that what he really wants to do is make movie musicals.

But no. "The Evil Dead Follies" are not being rushed into production.

Raimi says he's found his comfort zone and is happy in it. He's producing films like the just-released "30 Days of Night" through his Ghost House shingle, and helping Sony develop the fourth "Spider-Man" movie. (He was meeting with potential screenwriters about the movie earlier this month at the Columbia Pictures offices.)

"Spider-Man 3" was so out there not because Raimi was flexing certain experimental artistic muscles, but because he was simply trying to keep audiences interested.

"I look at myself as an entertainer, more than anything else," he said in a recent interview. "I wanted to make the movie a little more different than the previous films. ... That was less about me growing as a craftsman. That was more about me trying to provide an element to the audience that I thought they might need something different, that came from a different place."

Raimi began his film career with horror films that don't take themselves too seriously, and indeed veer easily into comedy. His partnership with his actor friend Bruce Campbell produced to the "Evil Dead" trilogy, which attracted a cult following and established Raimi as a filmmaker with unique visual flair. (A remake or fourth film in that series has been long discussed but not yet produced.)

He then cast about with various genres: Western (Sharon Stone's 1995 "The Quick and the Dead"), crime drama (1998's "A Simple Plan"), and sports (Kevin Costner's 1999 "For Love of the Game").

Then, the perfect fit: "Spider-Man." Raimi took his paycheck from that little film and formed Ghost House. The first movie he hoped to produce under his new company was a popular graphic novel called "30 Days of Night," written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith.

"The graphic novel had a really powerful impact on me. I thought this is the perfect project to launch a new company, at the time."

It didn't happen. Raimi's attentions were dominated by the "Spider-Man" films, and remakes of Japanese horror flicks like "The Grudge" were quicker to production for Ghost House. But Raimi had identified his comfort zone: Producing scary movies with supernatural elements, and exercising his visual talents by directing blockbuster fantasy films.

He's a powerful force in Hollywood because of it. And he won't "experiment for experimentation's sake."

"People are buying tickets to see this thing, after all. For myself, until I stop charging for tickets, I don't feel like I can just experiment.

"What I've found recently is I should speak with my own voice, and do what I know how to do, not try to be somebody else that I'm not. I think it's important for any artist or craftsman or workman to, if they know how to build cabinets, build cabinets," he said. "Don't start building ships because that would be dangerous."

Ghost House partnered with Sony and a Web site called FEARnet to make a set of seven online videos called "30 Days of Night: Blood Trails," set in New Orleans, that function as a prequel of sorts for the movie, which is set in a northern Alaska town.

Again -- it wasn't experimentation, Raimi says. It simply made sense as a storyteller, he says, to include the tale which was part of the original graphic novel. The approach allows for "some pleasant and short experiences" with young directors and writers who may be hired for future features.

Raimi plays the talent scout. And, he hopes, the director of the next "Spider-Man" movie.

"It'd be great to have the opportunity. That decision's up to Sony Pictures," he said. "I'm the current teller of the tale, so to speak. Spider-Man's been around for probably 45 years. Stan Lee created it. So many different storytellers have stepped up to the plate to tell their versions of that great character he created. And I'm just the next one in line.

So can Raimi remain in his comfort zone? The ultimate decision is up to studio executives.

"The time will come where I'll be gone and they'll replace me with another guy. The question is if that time is here yet."

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asap staff reporter Ryan Pearson thought the first Spidey was the best.

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