Note to Andrew Garfield - you are set for life. Your role as Peter Parker and Spider-Man is set for the rest of the decade, if Sony plans on keeping you as the star of the franchise. The studio has announced two more sequels to The Amazing Spider-Man and we’re still a year away from The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s release.
In a press release posted at Deadline, Sony said that Amazing Spider-Man 3 will be out on June 10, 2016. An Amazing Spider-Man 4 will hit theaters on May 4, 2018. Jeff Blake, Chairman, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution for Sony Pictures, called the franchise “our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise,” adding that “we’re thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years.”
This news comes while the studio is still filming The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which will again feature Garfield as Spider-Man and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. Shailene Woodley is playing Mary Jane Watson, while Dane DeHaan is Harry Osborn. While the villains are Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and Electro (Jamie Foxx), Norman Osborn, who becomes the Green Goblin, will appear in the film, played by Chris Cooper. Since the studio is already committed to the franchise, that will allow the writers and director Marc Webb to introduce characters who may play bigger roles in the future films.
Amazing Spider-Man 2 was written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Jeff Pinkner. The first film grossed $262 million domestically in 2011. It made over $750 million worldwide.
While Spider-Man is a Marvel character, Sony has retained the film rights. The studio first brought the character to the big screen in 2002’s Spider-Man, which also spawned two sequels.
image: Sony