The Hollywood Reporter is… well… reporting, that Sony is looking to do a spin-off of the successful Spider-Man franchise featuring Venom.

“The studio is developing the project, based on the gooey nemesis who appeared in ‘Spider-Man 3’ and is hoping the character could serve as an antidote to the aging ‘Spider-Man’ franchise in the way that Fox has used Wolverine to add longevity to its ‘X-Men’ franchise.

The studio had commissioned a draft of the script from Jacob Estes, a writer of the specialty film ‘Mean Creek,’ released several years ago by Paramount Classics. He’s also attached to the Plan B drama ‘The Gifted.’ But the studio is considering going in a different direction from Estes’ script and is seeking writers for a new draft.

Casting also is no simple matter. Topher Grace played the character in the film, but agents have been eyeing the role for their clients, as Sony is not yet convinced the actor can carry a tentpole picture.

Neither Sony nor Marvel would comment for this story.”

While this appears to be in the works, Sony is also still moving forward with a 4th installment of the Spider-Man franchise targeted for 2011, which is 9 years after the original Spider-Man film was released. Sam Raimi has stated in regards to a 4th installment that he will wait to see a script before deciding if he will be involved as director, producer, or otherwise.

Okay, time for my robot commentary. I really just wish Sony would leave well-enough alone, especially in regards to any spin-offs. This bot probably enjoyed Spider-Man 3 more (or hated it less) than the average geek/nerd/fanboy/human being, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think it was without fault (a lot of faults, actually) and I really wish Sony would focus on bouncing back with a strong showing in Spider-Man 4 before moving forward with a spin-off of a character that was poorly represented in the latest installment. With the quality of movies Marvel is developing on their own it’s really too bad that Sony has the rights to this beloved character (and even worse that Fox owns the X-Men) because I think Marvel Studios could really do some great work with ol’ Web Head now if they owned the rights.

I guess we will just have to wait to see what happens…