Last month Sam Raimi hired Gary Ross to rewrite Rabbit Hole playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s draft of Spider-Man 4, original draft penned by James Vanderbilt. Tonight it has been revealed that Sony has hired another screenwriter to take on the webbed Marvel superhero. But not for the fourth film… Sony has hired Vanderbilt to pen the next two films in the Spider-Man franchise, Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.

According to Variety, Sony Pictures Entertainment liked Vanderbilt’s ideas so much, that they’ve brought him back for two more films, which will feature an interconnected storyline. When James was hired to write the screenplay for the fourth film, the initial plan was to create a fifth story that could also be shot back-to-back. But the idea was scrapped after it became too much of an ordeal to get the entire original cast and creative team to return.

What’s really strange is that Sony still isn’t sure they’ll be back for the fifth and sixth films, and Vanderbilt has apparently been advised that his scripts could be used as the last two parts of the second Spider-Man trilogy or a blueprint for a complete franchise reboot. Either way, it doesn’t sound like the best way to enter into the story development process. Getting the principal members back for a fourth film seemed almost impossible, but the pieces somehow came together in the end. I would be surprised if Raimi and Maguire returned for two more.

Shooting two films back-to-back is the smartest thing Sony could possibly do, as the film’s sequels have been coming increasingly far apart, due mostly to convincing the cast and crew to return. Marvel is revolutionizing this idea by signing cast members to record multi-picture deals at the start. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the first Superhero trilogy, to be shot back-to-back-to-back, greenlit in the next few years.

Spider-Man 4 is gearing to begin production early 2010, and has a scheduled release fate of May 6th 2011

Want to know when the trailers for James Cameron’s Avatar and Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air will be online? Details after the jump.

We all know that the first teaser trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar will hit on August 21st, Avatar Day, attached to the new releases of the week. But did you know that the trailer will premiere online the day before? On Friday, Apple began running a countdown on their movie trailer page, advertising the first teaser trailer for the new 3D sci-fi movie. The countdown ends on Thursday at 7:00am, which is when we can expected the trailer to be online. Check back then.

Jason Reitman’s new film, a big screen adaptation of Walter Kim’s novel Up in the Air, will premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. But a few days before that happens, the first trailer will premiere online. The Up in the Air teaser trailer will premiere on Apple on September 10th, and will be attached to The Informant and Love Happens beginning on September 18th.

The film stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams. We’ll be in Toronto for the premiere, so keep checking back for our coverage. And check back on September 10th for the trailer premiere.

I’ve heard people say that almost everything is better with LEGOs. The Star Wars prequels? yes. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? possibly. LEGO Rock Band? ….? How about LEGO Ninja Assassin?

During Comic-Con, Warner Bros released the first trailer for James McTeigue’s Ninja Assassin. If you haven’t seen it yet, click here. Over the weekend I received a link to the same trailer recreated in stop motion animation by Keshen using legos. The short animated reenactment is actually very well put together. Check it out now after the jump.