Sony Pictures announced today that it has chosen release dates for the third and fourth entries in its Spider-Man film franchise: June 10, 2016, and May 4, 2018.  With the recent scheduling announcement by Marvel Studios (see "Marvel Grabs More May Weekends"), this puts a movie featuring Marvel characters on the first weekend of May for the next five years.
 
Commenting on the announcement, Jeff Blake, Chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures said, "Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years."
 
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is directed by Marc Webb (who directed the first in the series) with the screenplay by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner (with a previous draft by James Vanderbilt).  Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are the producers, and the executive producers include E. Bennett Walsh, Stan Lee, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci.  The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is currently in production in New York, and will release on May 2, 2014 (see  "Shailene Woodley to Play Mary Jane Watson," "'Spider-Man' Sequel Built Around the Death of Gwen Stacy,"  "'POTA,' 'Spider-Man' Casting" and "Chris Cooper in 'Spidey' Sequel" for more coverage).
 
The Amazing Spider-Man made over $750 million at the worldwide box office in 2012.
 
With Sony’s announcement (basically saying it will never give up the rights to on-screen Spider-Man, its "most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise"), those hoping for Spidey to begin appearing in Marvel Studios’ films such as The Avengers franchise are out of luck.