Let’s face it: we all knew Sony wasn’t just going to let the Spider-Man franchise die. Even without returning director Sam Raimi, or returning stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst (and all three are looking like they want out), the franchise WILL go on come hell or high water. When movies make as much money as the “Spider-Man” movies did, Hollywood only knows one thing to do — make more of it. That much was certain from day one.

Now word has flooded the Interwebs that screenwriter James Vanderbilt has turned in his script for “Spider-Man 4″, and according to someone “in the know”, the script has enough story arcs for a fourth and a fifth Spidey movie — maybe to even be shot back to back.

Cinematical has the rumor/scoop:

Apparently, in the last few weeks, James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) has turned in a working draft of Spider-Man 4 to the studio. However, according to our source, “his story arc has encompassed two films, making Spider-Man 5 shootable at the same time. The studio saw dollar signs and is in the process of reworking his deal to snatch up the story arc.”

The “Spider-Man” movies have always been a mammoth undertaking, and would seem to not lend itself to a speedy, back-to-back type shooting. But maybe that’s more because of director Sam Raimi than anything. Raimi is notorious for being a perfectionist, and another director might be able to punch two movies out at once.

Hey, why not? It’s not as if we’re expecting quality here. Not in a fourth and a fifth movie. You’d have to be crazy to think these upcoming two sequels could be any better than the previous — third — one.