Spider-Man Loses Keaton gains Downey

Deadline reports that Sony Pictures’ reboot of Spider-Man will include Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., as it ramps up ahead of production ahead of a July 2017 release date. But the news today comes as Michael Keaton, who was being courted to play the villain in the pic, has fallen out of early talks and won’t be a part of the project. Keaton was previously in talks to play the villain in the movie, hypothetically as the Vulture.

Venom movie in development

Sony Pictures will develop a film based on Spider-Man villain Venom, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The spinoff is not connected to the upcoming Spider-Man film that the studio is co-producing with Marvel.

Dante Harper, who wrote a draft of Edge of Tomorrow, will serve as screenwriter. There is no director attached to the project yet, but longtime Spider-Man producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are involved with the Venom film.