Marc Webb, director of ‘(500) Days,’ will swing with Spider-Man

[New York Magazine’s Vulture blog] item, which moves forward a story from Deadline New York’s Mike Fleming last week that had Webb sitting atop the studio’s list, reports that the director is actually signing on for three movies, with the rebooted franchise focusing on the ‘private life of Peter Parker.’ The studio confirmed that Webb had been hired but mentioned only one picture, with Sony co-chair Amy Pascal and Columbia Pictures president Matt Tolmach saying they had sought -- and, in their view, found -- a director who could ‘capture the awe of being in Peter’s shoes.’ As Vulture reminds, Webb was already a favored son at Sony, narrowly losing out (to Bennett Miller) the gig to direct the studio’s “Moneyball” (though the story attributes it to Sony chief Amy Pascal worrying about Webb’s whimsical style; we’d heard that star Brad Pitt was a little more keen on Miller, who had directed the star of his last movie, Philip Seymour Hoffman, to Oscar gold). Webb is also attached to a remake of “Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Universal. Producer Marc Platt told us last week that there was still a possibility Webb could direct “Superstar,” though with this news that’s pretty much out the window; three superhero movies can tie you up for a while. Webb also has an apocalypse-themed project called “Age of Rage” at Fox Searchlight. It’s safe to assume that one’s been backburnered too.