U2 rocker Bono has rescued the ill-fated Spider-Man musical by arranging financing to keep the show afloat.

Bono and bandmate The Edge wrote the music to accompany the Broadway extravaganza, which was announced to much fanfare last year.

But work on the stage show stopped last month, amid rumours producers Hello Entertainment were encountering financial problems.

Show bosses were forced to deny the musical had been scrapped altogether, after reports crew and castmembers, including Evan Rachel Wood, had been released from their contracts.

Producers insisted Spider-Man would still debut in New York in February 2010, and a newspaper report now suggests Bono is Spider-Man's saviour - the Irish rocker having convinced wealthy friends to invest in the show.

New York Post columnist Michael Riedel writes, "Bono's too smart to put his own money in the show, but word on the street is that he's tapped into his vast network of rich friends and business associates to restart production.

"Bono feeds half of Africa. So raising a few more million for Spider-Man shouldn't be too difficult."