‘Spidey’ swings in for Astoria debut

Spider-Man stars swung into Peter Parker’s hometown of Queens for the debut of Spider-Man 3.
On Monday, April 30, a slew of celebrities, including Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, walked the “black” carpet at Kaufman Astoria Studios as an estimated 3,000 fans cheered from the parking lot of P.C. Richard’s. Also drawing large applause were rapper P. Diddy and actor James Franco who plays Parker’s pal, Harry Osborn, in the Spider-Man movies.
Spider-Man 3 is the first motion picture and first of the trilogy to be debuted in Queens, ostensibly the hometown of its main character.
“It’s an ode to where they’re from,” McGuire told some of the estimated 200 media outlets positioned alongside the entranceway. “It really grounds our films in a nice place, and it feels real.”
Queens fans - and visitors from all over the city and Long Island - seemed to agree, chanting Maguire’s name as he stopped to hi-five kids and adults alike.
In the crowd, Saray Garcia and boyfriend Fausto Rojas said that they had heard about the event a few days earlier and just walked a few blocks from Rojas’ apartment nearby.
When asked if they planned to see the movie once it officially opens on Friday, May 4, Garcia said, “of course, we have to.”
After all the celebrities had been ushered inside the movie complex - where screens were showing the film simultaneously - four-year-old Emmanuel Posse, clad completely in a Spider-Man suit, was let loose on the cordoned-off 38th Street. Posse climbed, crawled, and catapulted into his best web-shooting stance until police asked him to return to his mom, Yasmina, a few minutes later.