LatinoReview has a scoop that during The Brothers junket, Maguire was asked who he wanted to work with his answer was, Guillermo del Toro. Which he followed with:

"We may have something here in the near future."

Cue the internet fanfare and rumor whirlwinds. This must mean that Tobey is the next Bilbo Baggins — but then again, it's the closest thing we've heard to actual Hobbit news in a while. Plus LatinoReview confirms this overheard conversation with a CAA source. Plus, Tobey is not shooting Spider-Mans 4 and 5 back to back, so he may have some free time. And it is a role of a lifetime — we'd still rather see David Tennant in the role, but Tobey has had an impressive career, and there's no doubt he could handle the role. We guess the rest is in GDT and Jackson's hands.

UPDATE: Movieline has the update from Maguire's publicist saying that the whole rumor is false, meanwhile super Tolkein site TheOneRing.com says the rumor is completely new to them, and none of their sources can confirm the possible Maguire Bilbo talks.

Nikki Finke reported that Maguire and Raimi will be returning to make Zodiac screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt's script of Spider-Man 4. Even a few weeks ago, Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal was talking about possible Maguire replacements with casting agents, becuase Maguire was holding out for more money.

Great, but what about the great mistake that was Kirsten Dunst? Finke claims that Sony would "never recast her" no matter what. But I say take a page from Dark Knight, and keep upgrading your girls. I'm expecting an even better actress in the next Batman.

As for the even bigger mistake of SM3, the effort to create a darker Peter Parker through musical comedy? It sounds as though the studio has learned an important lesson there. Spidey will be back in his original red and blue union suit. Writes Finke:

Gone is the black costume from Spidey 3, even though "dark" is all the rage in superhero movies right now given the enormous success of The Dark Knight. But I'm told the filmmakers won't be borrowing from the latest Batman installment because "Spider-Man is its own thing," one insider tells me. "Sam Raimi made the first serious superhero movie, and others followed. The difference between Spider-Man and Batman is that Batman is duelling with a dark side of himself, and that's not what Peter Parker's struggle is. Peter Parker has no dark side himself. In Spider-Man 3 it was the black costume. Peter Parker's struggle is about sacrifice."

In my opinion it's only a matter of time until all of those "Lizard is the next bad guy" rumors come true, but still there is plenty of speculation on who the new villain will be. And finally Sony is moving full steam ahead on the Venom spin-off flick, but still no word on whether or not Topher Grace is going to slip into his old Venom skin to star in the film.

[Nikki Finke Deadline Hollywood]

Who: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Why He Would Be Better Than Tobey: Joseph has great comedic timing (can go toe-to-toe with John Lithgow) so he won't look like he's constantly chewing on his lines a la Maguire. He has emotional depth and a credibility when talking about ridiculous plots, thanks to his work in Brick. And finally, has lovely locks that never looks greasy when grown out or parted to the side.

Who: Cillian Murphy

Why He Would Be Better Than Tobey: Murphy is infamously skinny and probably pretty bendy. He would be a much more plausible web-dangler based on physics alone. He can do brooding without using any pouty child faces.

Who: Skandar Keynes

Why He Would Be Better Than Tobey: He's got the fresh face that we need for a new superhero movie. If the producers are truly trying to go younger in the new Spider-Man, these eyes aren't carrying around a weeks worth of luggage in them. Plus according to imdb, he's a descendant of Charles Darwin so his casting would be evolution at its finest.

Meanwhile Stan Lee shared his opinion on who he thinks the villain in Spider-Man 4 should be, the Lizard. Mostly because his character, Dr. Curt Connors, has been set up by the first three films.

[IESB]

The publisher, formed by co-founder of TheForce.net Scott Chitwood and former director of Lucasfilm's StarWars.com, Paul Ens, have the perfect one line pitch for Afterburn (written by Ens and Chitwood): Indiana Jones meets Mad Max. Chitwood explains the premise like this:

In this story, half the Earth is hit by a superflare from the sun. All of Europe, Asia, Africa, India, and Australia are essentially microwaved. People out in the open were killed while the survivors were mutated by the radiation. However, all their treasures remain intact. Our anti-hero, Jake, is a treasure hunter that raids this post-apocalyptic wasteland for profit. It's a pulp adventure filled with big action scenes, unique international settings, and a lot of fun.