Did You Hear the One About Robert Pattinson as Spider-Man?

from eonline.com:

"For the time being, the only part of Spider-Man that's gonna sparkle in the sunlight is his web.

Despite unsourced and ultimately unfounded reports that Robert Pattinson would be taking over arachnophile duties from Tobey Maguire in the re-reboot of the Marvel franchise, E! News has learned that no such deal has been struck.

So, sorry, Twi-hards. Rob may make plenty of things tingle, but your Spidey sense shouldn't be one of them. Not yet, anyway.

While Sony declined to comment on the report, an insider close to the production had the following to say:

"Casting will only begin after a director is chosen. That has not happened yet. Sounds more like an optimistic float by a manager or agent who has nothing to lose by throwing a name into the mix."

Well, it's not just a name...

But let's get ahead of the curve now: Kristen Stewart for Mary Jane, anybody?"

Spider-Man 4 Unravels as Franchise Moves On Without Tobey Maguire, Sam Raimi

from eonline.com:

"Turns out Tobey Maguire has already had his last dance with Mary Jane.

A few days after script issues pushed it off the May 2011 calendar, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today that Spider-Man 4 ain't gonna happen at all, and that the franchise will eventually reboot featuring Peter Parker as a teenager.

Meaning original principals Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, as well as Spider-Man 1-3 director Sam Raimi, are out.

"We're very excited about the creative possibilities that come from returning to Peter's roots and we look forward to working once again with Marvel Studios, [producers] Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin on this new beginning," said Sony Pictures cochair Amy Pascal.

"Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me," added Raimi. "While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job."

Maguire had told E! News in November that he expected to start shooting his fourth Spidey film in February or March.

There's no official word as to how exactly the project came unspun, but Raimi had reportedly been unsatisfied about the current state of the screenplay by Alvin Sargent, the third writer brought on by Sony to tackle the storyline.

The Spider-Man saga is currently slated to begin again in summer 2012."