Los Angeles, June 24 (IANS): Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have announced that after an exhaustive search, Tom Holland has been named to star as the beloved superhero Spider-Man.

Holland's first film as Peter Parker and Spider-Man will land in theaters on July 28, 2017, and will be directed by Jon Watts, reports eonline.com.

Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group Chairman, said in a statement that "it's a big day here at Sony...I've worked with a number of up-and-coming directors who have gone on to be superstars and believe that Jon is just such an outstanding talent. For Spidey himself, we saw many terrific young actors, but Tom's screen tests were special."

Amy Pascal, who launched the franchise in 1999 with Toby Maguire in the title role, echoed Rothman's sentiments.

"(We) all knew that for Peter Parker, we had to find a vibrant, talented young actor capable of embodying one of the most well-known characters in the world. With Tom, we've found the perfect actor to bring Spider-Man's story into the Marvel Cinematic Universe," she said.

Andrew Garfield was the last actor linked to the famous role, and starred as Parker for two films in 2012 and 2014.

Holland has quite a few major films in the pipeline including "In the Heart of the Sea", which stars Chris Hemsworth.