Marc Webb to direct ‘Spider-Man’

Webb to weave Spidey

Marc Webb has caught the job of “Spider-Man” director.

Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios announced Tuesday that the “(500) Days of Summer” director will helm the next “Spider-Man” film following the departure of Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire, the director and star who worked on the previous three Spidey films. The fourth installment is set for a 2012 release and will focus on a younger version of the superhero.

Webb said in a statement he was not taking over the series from Raimi but instead wanted the “opportunity for ideas, stories and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas and creative voice to ‘Spider-Man.’ ”

Webb previously directed music videos, including Green Day’s “21 Guns” and the All-American Rejects’ “Move Along.”

-- associated press Poe’s visitor is a no-show

Is this tradition “nevermore”?

A mysterious visitor who left roses and cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe each year on the writer’s birthday failed to show early Tuesday, breaking with a ritual that began more than 60 years ago.

“I’m confused, befuddled,” said Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

The tradition dates back to at least 1949, according to newspaper accounts from the era, Jerome said. Since then, an unidentified person has come every Jan. 19 to leave three roses and a half-bottle of cognac at Poe’s grave in a church cemetery in downtown Baltimore.

“People will be asking me, ‘Why do you think he stopped?’ ” Jerome said. “Or did he stop? We don’t know if he stopped. He just didn’t come this year.”

-- associated press Tentative pact in Cleveland

The Cleveland Orchestra reached a tentative agreement with its striking musicians Tuesday following an 18-hour negotiating session.

The announcement was made by Howard Landau, a spokesman for Local 4 of the American Federation of Musicians, which represents northeastern Ohio.

Neither Landau nor orchestra spokeswoman Ana Papakhian provided details of the agreement, which came on the second day of the strike. Terms must be approved by the 101 musicians employed by the orchestra. They struck after being asked to accept a 5% pay cut.

-- bloomberg news Libeskind gets Berlin job

The Jewish Museum in Berlin will get a new extension designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, who also designed the zigzag-shaped main exhibition hall.

Museum spokeswoman Melanie von Plocki told the German news agency DAPD on Tuesday that a 19th century market hall for flowers, across from the original museum, would be turned into exhibition space by autumn 2011.

The first building, which opened in 2001, has become a tourist destination. It has been celebrated as a memorial to Jews in Germany: Its jagged structure evokes a deconstructed Star of David, suggesting the dramatic break in history wrought by the Holocaust.

-- associated press Sheens’ hearing is postponed

A hearing in Aspen, Colo., to determine whether to modify a court order preventing Charlie Sheen and his wife, Brooke, from contacting each other was postponed until Friday because Brooke Sheen underwent surgery for an oral infection.

Brooke Sheen’s attorney, Yale Galanter, asked the court to allow his client to participate in Wednesday’s scheduled hearing by telephone, citing Tuesday’s surgery. Pitkin County District Court Judge James Boyd denied the motion but did reschedule the hearing for 10 a.m. Friday.

Aspen police arrested Charlie Sheen, the star of CBS’ “Two and a Half Men,” on Dec. 25 on suspicion of felony menacing, second-degree assault and criminal mischief.

-- associated press Lynn Harrell to sub for cellist

Citing a muscle strain in her shoulder, cellist Alisa Weilerstein has canceled her Sunday appearance on the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. She was scheduled to perform Barber’s Cello Concerto with the USC Thornton Symphony, conducted by Mei Ann Chen.

Weilerstein will be replaced by cellist Lynn Harrell, who will make his Broad Stage debut performing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the orchestra.

-- David Ng