The original scribe for Spider-Man 4 – James Vanderbilt, might have been replaced but the studio hasn’t forgotten about him and want him to come back to write Spider-Man 5 and 6.
Sony Pictures has engaged screenwriter James Vanderbilt to write Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.
Production on Spider-Man 4 will begin early next year for a May 6, 2011 release. Vanderbilt wrote the first draft of the script for the fourth installment. David Lindsay-Abaire was brought on board to do a rewrite, and Gary Ross is now rewriting that script.
The trade adds that director Sam Raimi didn’t embrace all of Vanderbilt’s ideas, but executives at Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios have. Vanderbilt has been hired to pen the fifth and sixth movies, which have an interconnected storyline.
There is also some added speculation that if the original cast doesn’t all sign on, that they may consider rebooting the franchise with a new cast.
While I am not opposed to a new cast, I don’t see any need to reboot it. They could continue on with a new feel, new look and keep the story rolling. Just like the comics. A new artist, a new writer and a new story and its still the same Spider-Man, so why can they not inject some new life into it without having to wipe out everything that happened before?
I know Spider-Man 3 was weak, but they can still recover from it. The first two films were fantastic and there is no reason they can’t make another fantastic Spidey film.
