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Originally conceived as "Spider-Man 4," a direct sequel to the original film trilogy, Sony Pictures had actually begun pre-production before opting to make this film as a reboot instead. Sony re-negotiated contracts with director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst (each receiving a reported $30 million) for a three picture deal with the intention of starting a new trilogy in the series. Scripts were commissioned from writers James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, David Koepp and Gary Ross, with each writer earning upwards of $1 million or more for their services. The story would have introduced the Vulture as a new villain: Raimi initially approached Ben Kingsley for the role before casting John Malkovich. Malkovich was actually slated to play Norman Osborn in the original film series, but had to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts. In addition to the Vulture, the film would also introduce the villainess Felicia Hardy, with Anne Hathaway set to play the character. In the initial story, Hardy would become her comic book alter-ego Black Cat, though later script rewrites recreated Hardy as an original character called Vulturess (after her departure, Hathaway would take on a similar role in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)). Raimi also expressed interest in having Dylan Baker return as Dr. Curt Connors, who would transform into the villain The Lizard, though Executive Producer Avi Arad vetoed this idea. With development costs skyrocketing in excess of $100 million, Raimi, unhappy with repeated versions of the script, and tensions rising between Raimi, Maguire and the studio, Sony opted (in January 2010) to cancel the film and reboot the series instead. Raimi, for his part, has said it was for the best, as the director had been unhappy with Spider-Man 3 (2007) citing studio interference, and "hated" the storyline concocted for the proposed fourth film.