The British celebrity gossip magazine, OK, is claiming that Zac Effron is set to play the role of Peter Parker in the new Spider-Man movie! According to the article, Effron has been offered $14 million to take on the role.

The next Spider-Man movie is set to be a complete series reboot, and is said to take it’s influence from the Brian Michael Bendis penned Ultimate Spider-Man comic book series. The decision to reboot the series came after Sam Raimi pulled out of directing the fourth Spider-Man movie, and Columbia decided to restart the franchise in a scaled down manner.

Marc Webb is set to direct the movie, and will be working with producers Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, with a script by Jamie Vanderbilt that sees a high school aged Peter Parker, who is dealing with the knowledge that his uncle died even though the teen had the power to stop it.

The budget for for movie is said to be in the $80 million range, and the studio has said that it will go with a cast of relative unknowns. Therefore, I highly doubt  there is any validity to this Zac Effron rumour. However, OK had the following quote, which they claim is from a studio insider: “After dumping Spidey, Tobey then came to the rescue by recommending that Zac should take over his role.”

The article also states that the movie’s “producers believe the 22-year-old, who has a huge teen following, will bring new fans to the Spider-Man series by playing the reluctant hero and his alter ego Peter Parker”.

Furthermore, the article goes on to claim that the studio is also considering reuniting Effron with his High School Musical co-star Vanessa Hudgens, who will play Mary Jane Watson! The studio insider is quoted as saying: “It would be a great coup to land her as well… The franchise would be revitalised and transformed by two of Hollywood’s most gifted and fast-rising young stars.”

I sincerely hope there is no truth to this rumour, otherwise I think I will start to vomit blood!

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