Fri Oct 31, 2008 — by Josh Wigler

Lindsay-Abaire to Pen 'Spider-Man 4'

Vanderbilt Gone, No Story Details Revealed

Relative newcomer David Lindsay-Abaire is stealing James Vanderbilt's webshooters and hitting the New York skyline with Spider-Man 4.

The Hollywood Reporter states that Lindsay-Abaire, traditionally a novelist and playwright, is writing the fourth installment of the Spider-Man franchise for Columbia Pictures. Spider-Man 4 will once again feature Sam Raimi as director and Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. Kirsten Dunst is expected to return, though no officiall announcements have been made, apart from her impromptu "I'm in!" during an MTV News interview.

THR notes that Lindsay-Abire has little screenwriting experience. He wrote the scripts for Robots and Inkheart, and is working on an adaptation of his novel Rabbit Hole. The writer's work tends to focus on "outsiders in search of clarity," which makes him like-minded with Peter Parker. It's a sign that the studio wants to take Spider-Man in a more character-centric outing, "something that critics said got lost in the third installment" according to THR's report.

Previously, all signs had pointed to scribe James Vanderbilt putting the pen to Spidey's script. The writer had allegedly scripted a two-part Spider-Man epic that would've led to the fourth and fifth installments being shot back-to-back. In THR's report, it's noted that Vanderbilt "previously wrote a draft of Spider-Man 4," so whether or not his draft is being used as a template for Lindsay-Abaire or is being scrapped entirely remains a mystery.

Even when Vanderbilt was on board, plot details remained quite sketchy. Most fans assumed that actor Dylan Baker would finally get his chance to play The Lizard in the newest installment, but director Raimi isn't quite as sure.

"[Dylan Baker's] a great actor, and I think one day The Lizard’s story will be told," Raimi told MTV News. "I don’t know if it will be this one or not. I just don’t know. I’m definitely hoping to work with Dylan in the picture. I just don’t know who the villain is yet."

Whether or not he was playing coy remains to be seen. What's certain, however, is that whatever little we knew before about this movie, we probably know even less now. Isn't Hollywood fun?

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