The headline and subheadline tell you all you really need to know about this story — according to Nikki Finke, Sony Pictures has completely scrapped Spider-Man 4. No Malkovich. No Raimi. No Maguire. And no Dunst (small favors, I suppose). Sam Raimi couldn’t meet the release date, so he apparently decided to leave the project. Or Sony pushed him out. Who knows?

Instead, Sony will now focus their attention on a Spider-Man reboot franchise, working off of a script from Jamie Vanderbilt (Zodiac).

What does it all mean? Beats me. I’m actually kind of sad about it — not really because there won’t be a Spider-Man 4, but because the last one will be Raimi’s last. He’s a great director; Spider-Man 3 was a terrible movie; and I hate to see him go out like that.

And so a new round of casting (and now directing) rumors begins.

More as it develops, I’m sure.

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Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.