Spidey 4 Ramps Up

Spider-Man 3 Columbia Pictures/ZUMApress.com

With its director and star in place, Spider-Man 4 is about to snare a Pulitzer Prize winner in its web.

David Lindsay-Abaire, the playwright who won the nation's highest literary achievement for his 2006 drama, The Rabbit Hole, is in final talks with Columbia Pictures to pen the latest superhero sequel, per the Hollywood Reporter.

Both director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire signed on last month to the fourth and fifth web-slinger flicks, which will reportedly be shot together à la The Lord of the Rings to keep the budget down. No word yet on whether Kirsten Dunst will be back as Mary Jane Watson.

The plot of the fourth installment is being closely guarded. Lindsay-Abaire will be the latest acclaimed writer to board the blockbuster franchise, following veteran screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park), who wrote the first Spider-Man back in 2002; fellow Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, who helped craft the story and wrote an early draft of 2004's Spider-Man 2; and two-time Oscar winner Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People, Paper Moon), who wrote the final drafts for Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.

Rabbit Hole starred Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly and won four Tonys, including Best Play. Lindsay-Abaire is adapting a movie version, to star Nicole Kidman, and is also working on the book and lyrics for the upcoming Broadway musical Shrek.

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