In an article in The Hollywood Reporter, Laura Ziskin, who produced the first three Spider-Man movies, said that she didn't know who would be involved in Spider-Man 4, but that, 'The one thing we have answered definitively is: There will be more Spider-Man movies. We just haven't answered what shape they will come in and (Sony) hasn't given us a release date' (see 'Spider-Man Movies to Continue').
According to The Reporter, Spider-Man director Sam Raimi will be meeting with Ziskin and the Sony brass sometime in the next two weeks, the first preliminary step in the production of the next Spider-Man film.
Whether Raimi, Tobey McGuire or Kirsten Dunst return or not, 'Spider-Man will continue,' according to Ziskin, who added, 'I just can't tell you every person that will be involved.' Spider-Man will continue because Marvel has a 'use it or lose it' clause in its licensing agreement with Sony and the three Spidey films have grossed over $2 billion in box office receipts making the franchise far too valuable to let go.
If forced to by star defections Sony could potentially go with a younger (or older) Spider-Man, but the franchise with its singular hero doesn't have the flexibility of its less popular X-Men cousin. Fox is following up X-Men: The Last Stand with individual features for Wolverine and Magneto. Likewise Fox is working on a Silver Surfer feature film, although the future of the FF franchise appears to be in limbo at least until all the returns are in from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which opened well, but hasn't demonstrated much in the way of 'legs.'
The strong performances of Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End this summer have only intensified
