The Times Online are reporting that Tobey Maguire stands to earn $50m in salary and profit shares for filming Spider-man 4 and Spider-man 5 back to back over six months. As part of the deal Maguire has also been allowed time off during mornings and evenings to spend with his young daughter – an exceptional case due to the planned duration of the shoot.

“Tobey admits he is obsessive-compulsive about everything he does, and raising Ruby is no different,” a friend said last week. “There’s no way Tobey would allow work, no matter how well paid, to get between him and Ruby, and Sony realised that.”

Thanks again Robin!

Raimi and Maguire Return

This is the BIG news we’ve all been waiting and hoping for. Both main star Tobey Maguire and director Sam Raimi have been locked in to Spider-man 4! This report comes from the reliable scoop website Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily. There is not yet a deal for Kirsten Dunst to return as Mary Jane Watson.

Principal Photography & Main Villain

Principal photography is set to begin in the fall of 2009 to target a May 2011 release. The long gap until that date affords time to recruit a main villain; with speculation strongly suggesting Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard. The Sinister Six have also been mentioned. Villain rumors for Spider-man 4.

Spider-man 4 and Spider-man 5 together

The report also states, as previously rumored, that they are looking for angles at producing the next two sequels at the same time because of its cost effectiveness and the difficulty in keeping everyone together.

Venom Movie

And Sony has hired a pair of screenwriters to get going on the Spider-Man 3 spinoff movie Venom. Given that comic book artist/writer and action figure maker, Todd McFarlane, who is one of the creators of the Marvel villain, doesn’t think a Venom movie could do well with a villain as the central character, my sources think Sony should let Topher Grace, even though he was blown up at the end of Spider-Man 3 (yet a portion of the Venom costume survived), stay in the role because the likeable actor could be a a sympathetic evildoer.

Thanks Robin!