Buzz on the Net is that Sony has been working Zodiac scribe James Vanderbilt like a proverbial dog on Spider-Man 4, with the scripter now having completed a working draft of the superhero sequel.

 

Cinnematical.com have reported the news, and, so their source claims: "The story arc has encompassed two films, making Spider-Man 5 shootable at the same time. The studio saw dollar signs and is in the process of reworking his deal to snatch up the story arc."

 

Interesting news indeed. At present it seems none of this is confirmed, and the studio certainly has a job gathering up the likes of Toby Maguire, Kirstin Dunst and Sam Raimi (if he chooses to don the directorial megaphone once again) together for a back-to-back shooting schedule.

 

 

How's this for an incentive though: 2007's Spider-Man 3, despite a mauling from many critics and fans, still made an estimated $800 million at the worldwide box office.

 

More news when we have it.

IGN

im not quite sure about this.... im a fan and wanna see spidey 4 ASAP but also i wanna see a good film where the actors dont look bored and tired out...

I think this is just rumours, and even if this were true it'd be a LONG time before the films actually materialised. Getting all the actors on board will be difficult, and it'd be a long shoot if they're going to do 2 films of back to back filming. Still I imagine the $$$ sign will mean that the film company will push for them to be onboard with the project.

Theres been rumours of Spiderman 4 ever since Spiderman 3, and it appears that Maguire is demanding alot of money to reprise the role, so i hear they are looking for someone else.

 

Personally i dont think they should make a new one, but if they got, Raimi back then maybe i will be more excited :) .

it would be so weird if it was with someone else other than Tobey... wouldnt feel right =/

Alot of people think the storyline on the 2rd one was quite worn so I can see a 4th and 5th one attracting even worse reviews but it would save the studio alot of money if they could shoot them back to back

 

I don't think it would do them any favours either if they did replace Tobey Maguire, he should ask for as he can get as they'll still make tons of profit on them

The momentum really has worn off. The second one, okay. But the third was too much, as will be the fourth and fifth. Tobey has said on many occassions how it takes about a year to film one film and he hates being away from his daughter, I highly doubt he'd wanna be away from her for 2 years!

IN A victory for working fathers in Hollywood, the actor Tobey Maguire has been granted “family time” with his young daughter as part of an unprecedented deal to star in the next two Spider-Man movies.

 

Maguire was willing to shoot Spider-Man 4 and 5 back-to-back over six months next year but insisted he should take early mornings and evenings off so he could play with his “favourite blonde”, Ruby Sweetheart, who is 22 months old.

 

The 33-year-old actor is expected to earn a record $50m (£28m) in salary and profit shares from the two films, substantially more than Keanu Reeves earned when he shot the last two Matrix films back-to-back. Reeves complained that it left him exhausted.

 

The first three Spider-Man films grossed £1.5 billion and are still producing spin-offs, including a forthcoming Broad-way musical with songs by Bono, the Irish rock star.

 

Until recently it was uncertain whether Maguire would put on the Spider-Man suit again, and Sony had drawn up a list of alternative actors before Maguire’s agents came back to the negotiating table.

 

Sony, which declined to comment, is thought to have been wary of allowing “family time” because it could set a precedent. Finally its chairman, Amy Pascal, herself a mother, stepped in, saying six months without family time would not be fair on any parent.

 

In the next few days Sony is expected to reveal whether Maguire’s ex-girlfriend Kirsten Dunst will be returning as his on-screen love interest, Mary Jane Watson. Dunst, 26, has recently talked about a struggle with clinical depression.

 

Some critics have mocked the current generation of Hollywood actors as “boy-men”. Steve McQueen’s widow Barbara said she could not imagine him asking for “family time” when making The Great Escape. Like McQueen, Maguire came from a troubled background. He planned to be a chef until his mother, an aspiring scriptwriter, gave him $100 to take acting rather than cooking lessons to make sure he “got to know the world”. It worked.

 

Maguire rose to fame with his boyhood friend Leonardo DiCaprio and both became renowned playboys. At 19, however, Maguire checked into rehab. Today he is a teetotal vegetarian.

 

“Tobey admits he is obsessive-compulsive about everything he does, and raising Ruby is no different,” a friend said last week. “There’s no way Tobey would allow work, no matter how well paid, to get between him and Ruby, and Sony realised that.”

 

:yahoo: Im so glad its on now. :D