Columbia Pictures will be spinning two new episodes of the successful, and very lucrative, Spider-Man movies with actor Tobey Maguire returning in the starring role, an industry magazine reported Monday. To keep costs down, Columbia, which is owned by Japanese entertainment giant Sony, plans to shoot Spider-Man 4 and 5 in quick succession, starting in the autumn of next year, The Hollywood Reporter said. Laura Ziskin, who will co-produce the sequels with Avi Arad, told the magazine that she hopes to release Spider-Man 4 in May 2011, nine years after the first Spider-Man movie hit the big screen.
Both sequels will be directed by Sam Raimi. We have also reported that there will be a Venom spin-off coming eventually.
The studio did not say if Kirsten Dunst would return in her role as Mary Jane Watson. Is it just me or has she only seemed attractive in the Spider Man trilogy and The Virgin Suicides and is not that great elsewhere?
Spider-Man is Sony’s most successful movie franchise, with the first three films in the series grossing 2.5 billion dollars at box offices worldwide, according to Hollywood Reporter. And when there isn’t a blockbuster, it really kills Sony’s numbers and investors lose faith in the company.
