We heard rumours a couple of weeks ago that both Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire would return for Spider-Man 4 and 5, and although Sony still has not released anything official to confirm this, the evidence is growing stronger. This week the Times Online is reporting that the two sequels will indeed be shot back-to-back, and that Tobey Maguire will earn an expected $50 million in salary and profit shares from the movies. What’s more, he has also worked a deal in his contract for “family time”, allowing him to have early mornings and evenings off to spend time with his daughter, Ruby Sweetheart.

The article calls his salary a record high, but it’s hard to say if this is actually the most an actor has ever been paid for a single gig. Tom Cruise supposedly earned at least $70 million from War of the Worlds, although part of that was profit participation as well. Keanu Reeves got $15 mil plus 15% of the gross for The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. It’s all very confusing, but the bottom line is that Sony clearly believes that Maguire is key to the success of this franchise. I’ve always thought he was great as Peter Parker, but ever since they started talking about alternatives, I’ve been wondering how replaceable he might be. What do you think, is Tobey Maguire worth this kind of cash? Are you glad to see him return, or would you rather have seen someone else take on the role?