Sony Pictures is moving forward on developing 'Spider-Man 5' and 'Spider-Man 6' even though franchise director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kristen Dunst are not officially on board. HitFix Staff <p>Get ready for more 'Spider-Man' villain rumors.&nbsp; <br /><br /><a href="http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007333.html?categoryid=10&amp;cs=1" target="_blank">Variety</a> reports Sony Pictures has "quietly" brought on James Vanderbilt to write the screenplays for "Spider-Man 5" and&nbsp; "Spider-Man 6."&nbsp; Intriguingly, Vanderbilt was the first screenwriter on the currently prepping <a href="../../events/2009-3-12-spider-man-4" target="_self">"Spider-Man 4,</a>" but director Sam Raimi recruited acclaimed playwright David Lindsay-Abaire for a rewrite seemingly not satisfied with the writer's work.<br /><br />It appears Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios are much more on the Vanderbilt bandwagon than Raimi.&nbsp; Since the director and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst aren't confirmed beyond a fourth film, the fifth and sixth installments are being plotted as a franchise reboot (if necessary).&nbsp;&nbsp; With Raimi on board to direct Warner Bros.' "World of Warcraft" it's unclear whether more "Spider-Man" is in his or the actors' future plans.&nbsp; Even with so much up in the air, the trade reports the studio is moving forward at this time to ensure there are no three to four year delays in between each subsequent sequel.&nbsp; Over four years will have passed when "Spider-Man 4" opens in the summer of 2011.&nbsp; <br /><br />No word on what direction in particular Vanderbilt will take the new franchise, but the studio hopes to have them interconnected and shoot them back-to-back.&nbsp; <br /><br />Vanderbilt's credits include another superhero adaptation, the upcoming Warner Bros. picture "The Losers" and David Fincher's "Zodiac."<br /><br /><a href="../../events/2009-3-12-spider-man-4" target="_self">"Spider-Man 4"</a> will begin production in early 2010.</p> movies 2009-08-17T05:42:17Z 597 New sequels might not include Raimi, Maguire or Dunst 2038-01-01T00:00:00Z false 1633 false false false false false false false false false false 2009-8-17-breaking-spider-man-5-and-spider-man-6-moving-forward 40 2009-08-17T01:35:00Z 'Spider-Man 5' and 'Spider-Man 6' moving forward published Eastern Time (US & Canada) http://tinyurl.com/pzz59o Breaking: 'Spider-Man 5' and 'Spider-Man 6' moving forward 3 2009-09-01T03:53:09Z false 5 268