Emma Stone Hasn't Signed On as Andrew Garfield Is Confirmed for 'Amazing Spider-Man 2'

"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" would still see Andrew Garfield as the titular hero a.k.a Peter Parker, Columbia Pictures has confirmed. On Friday, September 28, the studio formally announced that Garfield has signed the deal to reprise his lead role, and director Marc Webb has also been locked to return to the directing seat.

However, Columbia threw a bit of curveball as it suggested that Emma Stone still hadn't signed on to return as leading lady Gwen Stacy. The studio said in its official statement that the real-life girlfriend of Garfield was still "in talks to return to the blockbuster franchise" and "is expected" to reprise her role as Peter's girlfriend.

Though Stone still hasn't inked the deal, the sequel project is already scheduled to kick off filming in early 2013 for a May 2, 2014 3D release in the United States. The script for the upcoming movie will be provided by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Jeff Pinkner based on a previous draft written by James Vanderbilt.

Commenting on the announcement, Columbia Pictures President Doug Belgrad said, "We could not be more confident in the direction we are taking this new Spider-Man storyline and we are tremendously excited to be ramping up production again with Marc at the helm and Andrew continuing on as Peter Parker. We can't wait to share what we have in store for Peter and Spider-Man with audiences worldwide."

The first "The Amazing Spider-Man" flick was released nationwide on July 3 this year. It successfully raked in more than $751 million worldwide.