Sony Pictures Entertainment hasn't even started production on Spider-Man 4 yet but they're already looking forward to the fifth and sixth installments. James Vanderbilt has been hired to start working on scripts for the two future films, reports Variety Vanderbilt isn't new to the Spider-Man franchise. He wrote the first version of Spider-Man 4 before director Sam Raimi ordered a rewrite by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire and now Gary Ross is making some additional changes.

It seems Raimi isn't Vanderbilt's biggest fan but it may not make a difference for the fifth and sixth movies as Raimi hasn't been signed to direct yet. He recently committed to direct a new franchise based on the online role-playing game "World of Warcraft." It's also unclear if Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will be back as their contracts are up after the fourth film.

Spider-Man 4 will start production early next year for a May 2011 release. It's no surprise Sony wants to get future films in the works given the success of the first three in the series with domestic grosses of $403 million, $373 million and $336 million respectively. Even though the numbers have been on the decline they're still good so why not throw some more web at the wall and see what sticks?

Source: Variety