Spider-Man reboot to dump Mary Jane character

• • Buy DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon UK

The battle to play the love interest in Marc Webb's reboot of Spider-Man has begun, with five up and coming actresses contending for the role. Unlike the original franchise, which starred Tobey Maguire as Spiderman and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, the new film will focus on a different female character from the comics.

The other principal female character in the comics is Gwen Stacy, though, according to Hollywoodreporter.com, the name of the character has not yet been announced.

Among the actresses currently auditioning to play opposite Andrew Garfield's Spiderman is Emma Roberts, niece of Julia Roberts, who has flown twice from filming Scream 4 to read for the part.

Other names include Imogen Poot, Nowhere Boy actress Ophelia Lovibond, Lilly Collins from The Blind Side and Teresa Palmer, last seen as the love interest in The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

NEW! For the latest music videos and backstage interviews, check out our brand new sister site, NME Video.

• Previous: 'Twilight' spoof 'Vampires Suck' watched online 100,000 times after leak
• Next: Google movie in the works