Sony Pictures must like what they’ve been seeing from The Amazing Spider-Man set, as while the movie is still shooting and doesn’t arrive in cinemas until July 3rd, 2012, THR reports they’ve hired writer James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, The Losers) to pen a sequel.
James Vanderbilt wrote the original draft of The Amazing Spider-Man when Sony decided to scrap Spider-man 4 and reboot the series from scratch. He was working on Spider-Man 4 at the time this decision happened, and there was talk at the time that Vanderbilt had come up with a three-story arc that Sony loved, so presumably he’s been asked to pen the second part of that.
While studios have been keen to shorten the time between sequels and get scripts underway before the previous movie has hit cinemas (which is comparatively cheap as writers usually get paid a lot less than actors and directors), this really is early to get a follow-up going. However with billions earned by Sam Raimi’s Spider pics, Sony presumes it’s worth it.