Rumor: 'Amazing Spider-Man 3' Delayed To 2017

That Sony wants more Spider-Man isn't in doubt. But when it'll get more Spider-Man might be. A new report indicates that The Amazing Spider-Man 3, originally scheduled for a 2016 bow, may now be arriving in 2017 instead. Get all the latest dirt after the jump.

The studio has had June 10, 2016 and May 4, 2018 locked down for two more Amazing Spider-Man installments since last year. However, the fourth entry was never actually confirmed to be The Amazing Spider-Man 4. At this point, it seems more likely to be either Venom or Sinister Six.

With almost $700 million in international grosses, this summer's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 wasn't what you'd call a flop. But nor did it meet Sony's sky-high expectations. It made less than The Amazing Spider-Man, which itself earned less than any of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.

Plans for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 are already pretty far along, with director Marc Webb and star Andrew Garfield expected to return and Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinker on board to write the script.

If Sony's getting worried about the diminishing returns for the franchise, it'd make sense for them to regroup before throwing another $200 million at another underperforming entry. And if that's the case, it should be interesting to see how that affects their plans for the other Spider-Man movies.

Three years seems like a long time to wait for another Spider-Man entry when Sony reportedly wants a new movie every year. So they might decide to rush one of the spinoffs to open in 2016 instead — more likely Sinister Six, we're thinking, since recently left Netflix's Daredevil to focus on it.

Of course, that's all just speculation for now since Sony hasn't officially announced that they want to delay the movie. But considering what a mess The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was, a little extra time may be just the thing for The Amazing Spider-Man 3.