Spidey 4 production halted indefinitely?

IESB is reporting that the Spider-man 4 (or reportedly, Spider-M4n) script is incomplete, due to director Sam Raimi and Sony Pictures butting heads about who the major villain for this outing should be. As of last Thursday, production has been stopped.

Raimi wants the Vulture; Sony doesn't. The article also mentions that Sony doesn't seem to know what is it that they actually want, just not the Vulture. Apparently, Raimi had also wanted the Vulture in Spider-man 3; the Vulture and Sandman were supposed to be partners-in-crime, with the Vulture being the more aggressive of the two.

Looks like it's Spidey 3 all over again. To recap, Venom was only included in the villain mix due to Marvel head honcho Avi Arad's insistence, and we all know how that one turned out. Now, we all know that Raimi knows best, but really, TWO movies is enough foreshadowing.

Let the poor Lizard have his day out in the sun.

EDIT: MTV just reported that Sony has denied the rumors, and that the so-called 'hiatus' is just a break for the upcoming Christmas season. However, the source did agree that the script is still underway.