The Amazing Spider-Man to become a trilogy

The Amazing Spider-Man will follow the same pattern as Sam Raimi's earlier franchise. The fourth installment, starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, is to continue to weave its web for two more films, according to Sony Pictures.

After director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy hit screens in 2002, '04 and '07, starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, the studio retired that Spidey and now the rebooted version of the story, The Amazing Spider-Man, will follow the same pattern, it was revealed on Thursday, as the film opened in countries around the world.

The fourth installment in the franchise, starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, is to continue to weave its web for another two films, according to Sony Pictures on the film's Facebook page.

Here's a timeline showing how Spider-Man became a hit, per The Hollywood Reporter:



1962: Spider-Man first appears on the cover of Marvel Comics' Amazing Fantasy no. 15. The story evolved from Peter Parker, a spiderlike teen with "a lot of personal problems that readers could empathize with," recalls creator and Marvel legend Stan Lee.

1963: After big sales, The Amazing Spider-Man launches as its own comic.

1967-70: An animated television series airs. Spider-Man, by Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat), features a famous theme song by Paul Francis Webster: "Spider-Man, Spider-Man/ does whatever a spider can."

1977-79: The Amazing Spider-Man returns to American television as superheroes are big with CBS-TV, airing Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk.

1985: Spider-Man almost becomes a superhero movie with Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), followed up an attempt by James Cameron.

2002: Tobey Maguire stars and Sam Raimi directs the first installment in the trilogy, leading to two sequels and $2.5 billion total at the box office, second to the Batman franchise.

2012: The Amazing Spider-Man reboot is released in 3D starring Andrew Garfield.