Britain's Empire Magazine is reporting that Sony Pictures is planning a "Venom" spin-off film, the villain character played by Topher Grace in "Spider-Man 3." Venom is one of Spider-Man's biggest rivals in the Marvel comic book series. Jacob Estes has been hired to pen the script.

In "Spider-Man 3," Venom was portrayed by Topher Grace as the character Eddie Brock. Due to the way the third film ended, however, Venom may take on a new character as it has in the comics as well.

"Venom" will be produced concurrently with "Spider-Man 4," which has a tentative planned release date of May 2011.