The production of Spider-Man 4 has officially been put on hold.

The next film in the Marvel franchise was meant to have a May 2011 release date, but the director, Sam Raimi, and Sony can’t come to an agreement on the script. Raimi, who helmed the first three of the hugely successful comic adaptations, is reportedly holding out for John Malkovich to be The Vulture, whereas Sony want to go in a different direction with the villain. Regular Spidey scribe Alvin Sargent is now in charge of the story after the project was passed to several writers.

Sony have now confirmed that the scheduled filming in February is not likely to happen, with a source telling Variety: “I think making May is a real question. We will not start until we have it right. The feeling is we are not going to rush it to make the date.”