Spider-Man 4 & 5

[MovieWes]

Pulitzer pen crafts "Spidey 4"
Friday October 31 1:51 AM ET


Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire got out of a rabbit hole, only to be ensnared by a spider's web.

Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama "Rabbit Hole," is in final negotiations to write "Spider-Man 4" for Columbia.

Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are back as director and star, respectively. Kirsten Dunst also is expected to return for the latest movie featuring the Marvel Comics character.

Plot details are under lock and key. Producer Laura Ziskin had said she would like to aim for a May 2011 release for "Spider-Man 4," nine years after the original movie's debut.

Columbia always has gone off the beaten path during the development process when hiring writers for the "Spider-Man" movies. Alvin Sargent, a veteran scribe best known for 1973's "Paper Moon" and 1980's "Ordinary People," served as a writer on the second and third films. Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer winner, also worked on "Spider-Man 2."

James Vanderbilt previously wrote a draft of "Spider-Man 4."

Lindsay-Abaire's "Rabbit Hole," which starred Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly, hit the Broadway stage in 2006 and won four Tonys, including best play. The writer also is known for the play "Fuddy Meers."

Lindsay-Abaire has said in interviews that his plays tend to be "peopled with outsiders in search of clarity," which would put his work on sympathetic terms with Peter Parker, who in his classic incarnation is the perpetual outsider.

The choice of scribe also signals that that filmmakers are intent to focus on character, something that critics said got lost in the third installment.

Lindsay-Abaire, now writing the book and lyrics for the Broadway musical adaptation of "Shrek," has dipped his toe in Tinseltown before, with his adaptation of "Inkheart" due in January. He is also adapting "Rabbit" for 20th Century Fox and Nicole Kidman.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

[Zahveed]

Let's hope they slow down with the villains on this one. They were doing great with just one villain each film but three-in-one was exhausting. I imagine The Lizard will come about at some point, but probably not as the main threat. The Vulture would be interesting and Scorpion would give Simmons more story, but I have a feeling they'll be building up for Carnage. Time will tell. (Not the magazine, the theoretical fourth dimension)

[MovieWes]

Spider-Man Returns, But Will Kirsten Dunst?

by Jonathan Crow | October 17, 2008

Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire recently put to end months of gossip and signed on the dotted line for a fourth and fifth installment of "Spider-Man." The only principle not yet confirmed for the wildly successful franchise is Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, though she's made recent statements that she wants to continue with the series. "Kirsten, I'd love to work with her again," Raimi told MTV's Splashpage: "I hope she'll be written into it. I couldn't imagine making one without her, and I think she's an important part of the movies."

Maguire will, of course, return as Peter Parker though Raimi's exact connection to the production seems a bit more up in the air. "I'm really excited about Spider-Man, and I'm hoping to direct it," said Raimi. "I don't have a script yet, but production would start probably by March of 2010, I'm guessing. It sounds like a long time away, but we need a script first, and a lot of pre-production has to take place."

There's also been much talk over whether or not the two movies will be shot back-to-back, like the "Lord of the Rings" films. As Raimi tells it, that too has yet to be determined. "It's [Sony Pictures Studio Head] Amy Pascal's decision. I don't think it has been decided yet, and she's the one that's really going to make that decision; I'm really curious myself."

Though there are no details on the story for Spider-Man 4 and 5, Raimi has hinted that the two movies will be connected. "If Tobey and me, and all the producers, like the story for two pictures and Amy wanted to do it, then we would do it. It just hasn't been written yet." Screenwriter James Vanderbilt, who wrote Zodiac, has been signed on to write the script. Sony is still casting for the films' villain, though internet speculation has lead to talk of Dr. Curt Connors, played by Dylan Baker, turning into The Lizard as he did in the comic series. There is even talk of Mary Jane's astronaut ex-fiancée John Jameson undergoing a transformation into Man-Wolf.

Raimi has admitted previously that shooting Spider-Man 3 was exhausting, so he's understandably daunted by the prospect of shooting two special-effects laden blockbusters at the same time. "It would be a real endurance test, probably only Peter Jackson knows how hard something like that would be."