"The Amazing Spider Man 2" was a box office success under different circumstances, but bearing the hopes of Sony's tentpole hopes was too much to bear. With "The Amazing Spider Man 3" scheduled for a 2016 release date, Sony faces a dilemma.

TASM 2 brought crossed the $ 700 million worldwide gross which is not bad at all. But it's actually the least profitable movie by the franchise! From Box Office Mojo, the movie did not even reach the $757 million of "The Amazing Spider Man" and way below the $ 890 million of "Spider Man 3."

What concerns Sony is the critics' overall negative feedback. The feedback was similar to the reception of Spider Man 3. While it was profitable, most viewers conceded that the franchise hit a wall. Sony was quick to respond and rebooted the franchise.

However, they seem to have hit the wall early-and without the profits to boot. The consensus review from Rotten Tomatoes reads:  "While the cast is outstanding and the special effects are top-notch, the latest installment of the Spidey saga suffers from an unfocused narrative and an overabundance of characters." By the way, [SPOILERS] Emma Stone's character Gwen Stacy died at the end of TASM 2, so the 'chemistry between the lead stars' selling point is also gone.

The original release date for "TASM 3" is June 10, 2016. That's one month after May 6, 2016-the big showdown of "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Captain America 3" and it's also a mere two weeks after "X-Men: Apocalypse." Superhero movie burnout is real, folks. That is possibly a reason why they are reportedly pushing it off to 2017 (no exact date specified).

The first site to report the alleged delay was Ain't It Cool News (AICN).  It was merely a passing reference in their Warner Bros. story and no reason was given. Yet, most of the sites picked it up and speculated on the reasons.

Comic Book Movie pointed out that Sony even had plans to release a Spider Man movie every year, with "The Amazing Spider Man" every two years and two spinoffs, Venom and Sinister Six in between.

The report remains unconfirmed and it is also undetermined if another reboot will take place.