The Spider-Man series is getting completely rebooted with a new cast and storyline, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced on Monday, January 11, and will hit theaters during the summer of 2012. The movie will be based on a script written by James Vanderbilt, and will bring Peter Parker back to high school, once again focusing on the teenager grappling with his transformation into the superhero.

While Spider-Man 4 with Tobey Maguire and producer Sam Raimi was supposed to be released next year, it never went into production. While Raimi’s Spider-Man series will always be an important franchise for Sony Pictures, Michael Lynton, the Chairman and CEO of the studio, said, “We have always believed that story comes first and story guides the direction of these films.” But the studio felt it was time to move onto the next chapter, and Lynton added that “…we will do so with the highest respect for the source material and the fans.”

Matt Tolmach, the president of Columbia Pictures, gave his consent to the new version, adding that the studio is excited about what comes next. “Under the continuing supervision of (producers) Avi (Arad) and Laura (Ziskin), we have a clear vision for the future of Spider-Man and can’t wait to share this exciting new direction with audiences in 2012,” he said.

Raimi has also given his consent to the new direction of the series. “Working on the Spider-Man movies was the experience of a lifetime for me. While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job.”

Written by: Karen Benardello