Sam Raimi knows that many people are curious about the status of Spider-Man 4, and he has decided to give us an update on where things are going with the production. Unfortunately, as he told SCI FI Wire, right now the only news is that he expects to see the scrip this summer.

"Right now, David Lindsay-Abaire is working on a draft of the new picture," Raimi said. "And he's hard at work, and hopefully we'll see something in about three months."

Raimi explained that, as is often the case with big-budget films like Spider-Man 4, the film is working towards it's already announced release date. "We have to make the release date, and on all of these pictures, the Spider-Man films, and I'm sure it's the same as with many of the other bigger budgeted films, they have release dates far in advance of a screenplay," he said. "So it's about getting it ready the best you can in time for the first day of production. That's what we've always done and that's what we'll try to do again."

While Tobey Maguire is reportedly signed on to return as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Raimi is reluctant to discuss other casting. He plans to reassemble the core cast, but he says that he doesn't want to make many plans until he has a script in hand. "At this point I do, but it's really ... all going to be dependent upon the script, and I'll just have to wait and see," Raimi said. "I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but hopefully we can service the story in the screenplay and whatever it demands, hopefully we'll be its eager servants."

Unfortunately, this reluctance to discuss casting also extends to a reluctance to discuss what villain (or villains) might appear in Spider-Man 4. "I'm not at liberty to discuss the villains yet," Raimi said. "I think I have to wait 'til the finished screenplay, and then it'd really be up to Sony Pictures and the producers to determine when they want to release that information. To them, it's usually a big, a big, big thing, a big moment where they want to present the villain with the proper respect or fear that he or she deserves."