Spider-Man 4 hasn’t even gone into production yet, but that’s not stopping Sony Pictures Entertainment from hiring a screenwriter for numbers 5 and 6 already. According to Variety.com, the studio has hired James Vanderbilt to begin the writing chores on the two films, both of which will be inter-related.

Vanderbilt was originally hired to write Spider-Man 4, but director Sam Raimi wasn’t too crazy about all of Vanderbilt’s ideas for the script, so he brought in David Lindsay-Abaire, whose script is now being rewritten by Gary Ross. The studio had hoped to film parts 4 and 5 back-to-back, but those plans where scrapped along the way. Instead, the studio is now planning on using that strategy for parts 5 and 6.

But if Raimi didn’t like his ideas for Spider-Man 4, what are his chances of liking the next two sequels? The studio’s already thinking ahead about that.

From Variety.com

Sources said it was unclear whether Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will be back. If they aren’t, Vanderbilt’s script would be the blueprint for a franchise reboot. After committing to his fourth “Spider-Man” film, Raimi signed on to direct a new franchise based on the massively multiplayer role-playing online computer game “World of Warcraft” for Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Maguire and Dunst were locked into the first three pictures and made a new deal for “Spider-Man 4.” It’s unclear how long they want to continue with the series.

So, why the rush on the next films? According to the Variety.com report, Sony is trying to keep the time between pictures down to a minimum, given how important the franchis is to the studio. The time between pictures has grown each time and Sony doesn’t want to wait five years between movies, given the amount of money this franchise generates.

For more details, read the full article at www.variety.com.