Studio signs for three more 'Spider-Man' movies

Webbed superhero Spider-Man will appear in at least three more movies, Sony Pictures has confirmed.

The studio's chief executive Michael Lynton said after the box office success of the latest release, Spider-Man 3, there is a huge audience waiting to see the story continue.

Lynton tells BBC News, "Everybody has every intention of making a fourth, a fifth and a sixth and on and on.

"(We'll make) as many as we can make good stories for."

Spider-Man 3 entered the record books as the most successful new release ever after taking $148 million in its opening weekend.

Lynton enthuses, "I think it had a lot to do with timing--the fact we were the first out in the summer.

"I think it had to do with the fact that the movie had a universal appeal, it had a broader appeal than the second movie, it attracted a family audience and brought the family audience back.

"There were many factors that contributed to it, and there's a part that you just put down to 'I don't know.'"

Lynton did not confirm whether director Sam Raimi or Tobey Maguire would be coming back for the fourth installment and beyond.