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This is either the smartest actor demand ever or the strongest studio bribery ever... but for reprising his role as Peter Parker in Spider-Man 4 & 5, Tobey Maguire is reportedly being paid a record $50 million + profit shares + a contract clause stipulating that he is not to work on mornings and evenings. Talk about a cushy job. According to Times Online, Tobey's agents asked Sony for the deal because the 33-year-old actor wants to have "family time" with his 22-month-old daughter.

You heard that right. Tobey Maguire is being paid a salary that looks like God's parking ticket to work half days.

Earlier this month, Sony locked a deal with both Maguire and director Sam Raimi to return for two more Spider-Man films to be shot back-to-back. The shooting process would take six months altogether, and Maguire found it unacceptable to be away from his daughter for so long. Hence the deal.

Although at first the studio was unsure about including the unprecedented "family time" clause, fearing that it will open up the can for more actors to demand less work hours in the name of preserving family values, but Sony chairman Amy Pascal stepped in and okayed the deal, agreeing that six months without family time would not be fair on any parent.

Obviously, they figured it's a small price to pay to continue their highest grossing franchise with the people that made it so successful in the first place.

"The studio never considered any other actor. Tobey was our only choice and the only person we've discussed the role with," Sony spokesman Steve Elzer said.

Yeah, I'm gonna call bullshit on that one. Sure, this crazy deal proves that they were serious about coaxing Tobey back; but really, Sony was going to go ahead with the sequels with or without Maguire (Patrick Fugit and Michael Angarano were names tossed around in the rumor mill). It got me wondering if the film would perform as well without Raimi or Tobey, or if it would be any good at all. Then again, considering how poor Spider-Man 3 was (in quality, not box office performance), it would have been nice to just end Raimi's trilogy and continue on with a new (but respectable) creative team that could pump in fresh blood into the series.

The fourth movie is scripted by Zodiac writer James Vanderbilt (Yay!), and is said to center around Dr. Curt Connors' transformation into The Lizard (Meh), with Dylan Baker hoping to reprise his role (Yay!). Raimi has also expressed interest in introducing Electro and Vulture to form The Sinister Six (Ugh!). Kirsten Dunst is expected to return as MJ (Double Ugh!) and so is J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson (Yay!). Meanwhile, a Venom spin-off is still in the works (Ugh!) but without Topher Grace in the lead (Yay!).

Of course, I would have suggested to simply end the Spidey movies before they can get any worse, but I'm not delusional. The Spider-Man movies are like sex with Kobe Bryant. You can kick and scream all you want, but it's -- it's gonna happen.

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