Spidey 4 lands Pulitzer pen

Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire swings to sequel

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire is in final negotiations to write “Spider-Man 4”.


Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are back as director and star, respectively, as are series producers Laura Ziskin and Avi Arad. Kirsten Dunst also is expected to return for the latest movie featuring the Marvel Comics character.


Plot details are under lock and key, though James Vanderbilt had previously wrote a draft of “Spider-Man 4.”


Lindsay-Abaire’s “Rabbit Hole,” which starred Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly, hit the Broadway stage in 2006 and won four Tonys, including best play. The writer also is known for the play “Fuddy Meers.”


Lindsay-Abaire has said in interviews that his plays tend to be “peopled with outsiders in search of clarity,” which would put his work on sympathetic terms with Peter Parker, who in his classic incarnation is the perpetual outsider.


The choice of scribe also signals that that filmmakers are intent to focus on character, something that critics said got lost in the third installment.