Wife sues over Spider-Man death

The movie is based on the comic book superhero

The wife of crew member killed during the construction of a set for the upcoming film Spider-Man has sued the movie's production company.

The woman filed a wrongful death suit for unspecified damages against Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures, on Wednesday at the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Welder Tim Holcombe, 45, died on 6 March when struck on the head by a forklift, being used as a crane, after it fell onto a construction basket in which he was riding.

Columbia Pictures was fined nearly $59,000 (£40,400) in August for workplace violations stemming from Mr Holcombe's death.

Tobey Maguire takes the film's lead

Another worker in the basket with Mr Holcombe was not seriously injured.

Mr Holcombe was one of a crew involved in building a New York City street facade for the live action version of the Marvel Comics superhero story.

At the time of the incident, Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Rowe said: "There was a slight breeze this morning and that could have been a factor."

Trailer

The film stars Tobey Maguire as the meek Peter Parker who finds he has acquired superhero qualities after being bitten by a radioactive spider.

Willem Dafoe and Kirsten Dunst co-star. None of the cast was on set at the time of the incident.

Columbia Pictures was faced with a setback to their hotly anticipated adaptation immediately following the attacks on the US on 11 September.

It pulled a trailer for the movie from cinemas and their website because it showed a scene involving the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, which were destroyed in the attacks.

It also recalled the film's posters, which showed the twin towers reflecting in the comic book hero's eyes.

Spider-Man is scheduled to open in May 2002.