Movies: Boys Who Like Toys

There's an unlikely new superpower in the world of film

Columbia Pictures

Thomas Haden Church as Sandman and Tobey Maguire as Spiderman (left to right) seen here in a scene from the upcoming film SPIDERMAN 3 .

He's one of the most powerful taste-makers in Hollywood, the guy behind the record-breaking success of 300, the hit status of NBC's Heroes and the reign of the Xbox 360 gaming console. He enjoys invitations to the Skywalker Ranch and hangs out with guys like Nicolas Cage and Quentin Tarantino at conventions. He's zealously loyal, notoriously finicky and often aggressive with those who dare to disagree with him.

Oh, and occasionally he likes to dress up as Spider-Man.

He is the fanboy, the typically geeky 16-to-34-year-old male (though there are some fangirls) whose slavish devotion to a pop-culture subject, like a...

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