Hundreds of fans waved and shouted "kawaii" (cute) as Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst headed down the red carpet to attend the world premiere of "Spider-Man 3" in Tokyo, Japan.

Maguire later noted that Tokyo was one of the few cities in the world where the comic book superhero would have a far easier time of swinging among the city's multitude of skyscrapers, reports www.hollywood.tv.

"If we do a fourth movie, we might need Spider-Man to come to Tokyo," he said and his remark evoked even more enthusiasm from the fans.

While Sony Pictures is a Japanese-owned company, the Tokyo premiere was part of its marketing strategy. "Of course we are looking to boost our proceeds in Japan," said a Sony official in Tokyo.

While higher quality domestic films in 2006 outsold Hollywood movies at the Japanese box office for the first time in 20 years, "Spider-Man 3" was "made with the Japanese movie market in mind", said producer Avi Arad.

"Japanese viewers enjoy sophisticated movies with eye-opening action scenes. But it's also been proved that unless the story is good, the movie won't be accepted," Arad added.

Sony Pictures is said to have spent approximately $250 million on the new film, with a substantial amount of the budget being spent on special effects.

The film introduces two new villains - Sandman and Venom.

"I feel this film is a kind of natural conclusion to a lot of stuff that's happened in the first two movies. It kind of feels like a natural trilogy," said Maguire.

There is word that a fourth sequel is being written and Maguire intimated that he would continue to play the role "if we come up with something we feel deserves to be told. I'm not going to make them just because they've been successful".

"Spider-Man 3" will have its British premiere April 23 and its US premiere April 30 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

On May 1 the blockbuster will be released in Japan, China and selected European countries.

"Spider-Man 3" will hit Indian screens May 4 through Percept Picture Company (PPC) with 600 prints.