Information MARVEL'S DEVELOPMENT HELL: Where Super-Powered Projects Go to Die

[Doctor Omega]

“Doctor Doom” & “X-Force” Film Updates





Questions are still looming over the fate of certain franchises due to the recent Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox, a deal which will require well over a year before being fully completed.

One of the obvious talking points is Fox’s Marvel properties and what’s going to happen to all those “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” projects that were in development at Fox including “X-Force” and the “Doctor Doom” movie.

Discussing Film reports that they have confirmed that despite the Disney/Fox deal, currently “X-Force” is still on track to go into production with Drew Goddard (“The Cabin in the Woods”) still attached to write and direct according to Goddard’s reps.

So what about “Doctor Doom”? The latter has had “Fargo” and “Legion” creator Noah Hawley attached since last year to pen the script. Speaking with Collider at the Television Critics Association press tour for FX, Hawley offered an update on the film’s status. For now it sounds like there’s been no progress on it:

“I haven’t had a single conversation yet about Doom in the context of the merger. On some level, we’re still looking at a period of time – probably a year, at the least – for this whole thing to go through. Who knows, corporately, what conversations will be had, but certainly, until it goes through, it’s not a legal thing. I don’t know. I’ve been waiting for the phone to ring to see if anyone is gonna have an opinion. Otherwise, it’s just business as usual for me.”

For now everything remains as it was with the three “X-Men” projects in 2018 – “The New Mutants,” “Deadpool 2” and “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” – all proceeding as planned.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Doctor Doom” & “X-Force” Film Updates





Questions are still looming over the fate of certain franchises due to the recent Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox, a deal which will require well over a year before being fully completed.

One of the obvious talking points is Fox’s Marvel properties and what’s going to happen to all those “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” projects that were in development at Fox including “X-Force” and the “Doctor Doom” movie.

Discussing Film reports that they have confirmed that despite the Disney/Fox deal, currently “X-Force” is still on track to go into production with Drew Goddard (“The Cabin in the Woods”) still attached to write and direct according to Goddard’s reps.

So what about “Doctor Doom”? The latter has had “Fargo” and “Legion” creator Noah Hawley attached since last year to pen the script. Speaking with Collider at the Television Critics Association press tour for FX, Hawley offered an update on the film’s status. For now it sounds like there’s been no progress on it:

“I haven’t had a single conversation yet about Doom in the context of the merger. On some level, we’re still looking at a period of time – probably a year, at the least – for this whole thing to go through. Who knows, corporately, what conversations will be had, but certainly, until it goes through, it’s not a legal thing. I don’t know. I’ve been waiting for the phone to ring to see if anyone is gonna have an opinion. Otherwise, it’s just business as usual for me.”

For now everything remains as it was with the three “X-Men” projects in 2018 – “The New Mutants,” “Deadpool 2” and “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” – all proceeding as planned.

 

[Doctor Omega]

New Scribes Join Black Cat & Silver Sable Film






Lindsey Beer (“Chaos Walking”) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (“Tomb Raider”) have reportedly penned the most recent draft of the script for “Silver & Black,” the upcoming new film based on Marvel Comics characters Silver Sable and Black Cat.

Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Secret Life of Bees”), who penned the previous draft, is now doing a polish of the duo’s recent draft that she will then submit to the studio. Chris Yost (“Thor: Ragnarok”) and Lisa Joy (“Westworld”) worked on earlier drafts.

The film will follows the two female characters – a mercenary who hunts war criminals and an acrobatic cat burglar. Matt Tolmach and Amy Pascal are producing with the film slated to open February 8th 2019.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
Marvel TV has begun development of “Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur”, an animated TV series based on the hit comic book series about nine-year-old super-genius Lunella Lafayette. This African-America girl teams up with her crimson-colored dinosaur and uses her smarts to save the day. The project is in consideration for a Disney Channels Worldwide series.


Devil Dinosaur is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Devil Dinosaur resembles a red Tyrannosaurus Rex. He first appeared in Devil Dinosaur #1 (April 1978). Devil Dinosaur and his inseparable ape-like friend, Moon-Boy, are natives of "Dinosaur World", a version of Earth in a parallel universe where dinosaurs co-exist with tribes of primitive humanoid beings.





Moon-Boy is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Moon-Boy resembles a small, furry humanoid. He is best known as the constant companion of Devil Dinosaur.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Spidey Spin-Off “Silver & Black” Delayed


The second of Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man” spin-offs, “Silver and Black,” has reportedly been delayed indefinitely reports That Hashtag Show.

The original schedule had the movie to begin filming at the beginning of March in Atlanta, taking over from where the first “Spider-Man” spin-off film “Venom” recently wrapped production.

Still, the holding pattern isn’t a surprise as the “Spider-Man” spinoff had yet to set a cast and very recently enlisted a pair of new writers – Lindsey Beer (“Chaos Walking”) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (“Tomb Raider”) – to have a go at a new script.

Gina Prince-Bythewood, who remains onboard as director, penned the previous draft while Chris Yost (“Thor: Ragnarok”) and Lisa Joy (“Westworld”) also took a shot. The film reportedly remains a priority for the studio and it’s still slated for a February 8th 2019 release. That date will likely be pushed in coming months.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Doctor Doom” Won’t Require F4 Reboot





Currently prepping for his feature film directorial debut with Natalie Portman’s “Pale Blue Dot,” “Fargo” and “Legion” creator Noah Hawley has another project on his plate right now – a movie about the iconic “Fantastic Four” villain Doctor Victor Von Doom.

Considered one of the great comic characters in polls, his screen incarnations as portrayed by Julian McMahon and Toby Kebbell have been lacklustre to say the least. Hawley, however, has a new take though, planning to give fans something they haven’t quite seen before. In fact he tells The Observer his version won’t require a relaunch of the “Fantastic Four” at all:

“As with Legion, my thought was that the [superhero] genre has a certain kind of movie covered, but what else can the genre do. What’s interesting to me about Doom’s character is he’s the king of an Eastern European country and is there a version of this that is more of a political thriller that mixes genre?

It’s something that [Captain America] Winter Soldier did really well, which was kind of make a Cold War thriller movie out of a superhero movie. This is different than that, but it does have this idea of, and I don’t want to say too much about it, but it is a mixture of genres.

The mandate is not to re-launch the Fantastic Four franchise as much as it is to take this fascinating and under-served character and really build a movie about him where we ask the question: Is he a hero? Is he a villain? What does he really want? We’re able to explore these questions in a serious way.”

Hawley however acknowledges there’s one big challenge standing in his way – Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox which has put the latter’s superhero slate in limbo. Hawley says he has no idea where things stand:

“That’s not clear to me yet. I haven’t had any larger Marvel-based conversations about if they have plans for the X-Men universe or if they have plans for their other Fox-controlled comic properties. I would have to imagine there’s a plan in a drawer somewhere, but as long as the show is making noise and is watched by people, I won’t be worried that they’re going to cancel Legion because it doesn’t fit in with their larger brand. But, who knows, I haven’t had those conversations.”

The second season of “Legion” returns in April.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Is he a hero? Is he a villain? What does he really want? We’re able to explore these questions in a serious way.”

He is a villain. And a magnificent one, on an operatic scale. He is not a hero!

Don't do this, fella!

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Red Sonja” Gets “Thor” & “X-Men” Scribe





Ashley Edward Miller has been brought onboard to pen the screenplay for “Red Sonja,” the film adaptation of the iconic 1970s Marvel comic book heroine inspired by “Conan” creator Robert E. Howard and setup at Millennium Films.

The character is a fiery-haired warrior in a chainmail bikini who seeks vengeance on those who destroyed her family. Brigitte Nielsen played the character in a 1985 feature which also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The project has been in development for many years and gone through several filmmakers, but the current version is being fast-tracked with Miller’s hiring helping move it along quickly.

Miller says in a statement: “It’s an exciting opportunity to faithfully adapt the amazing Hyborean world Robert E. Howard created, and inject it with Sonja’s intelligence, ferocity, and fearless humanity. I want people to love Sonja the way I love her, and walk out of the theater understanding why she’s so popular and enduring. Sonja is an icon.”

Miller previously penned two of the more underrated Marvel films – Kenneth Branagh’s “Thor” and Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class” – and has worked on notable genre series including “Fringe,” “Black Sails” and “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. He recently penned the upcoming “Big Trouble in Little China” remake.

Avi Lerner, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Luke Lieberman, Mark Canton and Courtney Solomon will produce.

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

A New “Red Sonja” Is Being Fast Tracked

Millennium Media is set to finance and produce “Red Sonja,” a new feature adaptation of “Conan” creator Robert E. Howard’s iconic heroine with the project being fast-tracked.

A writer will shortly be hired to adapt the character who was adapted into the Marvel comics of the 1970s. The property was previously adapted for the screen in 1985 with Brigitte Nielsen in the title role and Arnold Schwarzenegger co-starring.

The new version will be different, with fresh story ideas and characters. Avi Lerner, Joe Gatta, Mark Canton and Courtney Solomon will produce.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Gambit” Aiming For Summer Shoot?





Channing Tatum has been linked to the X-Men Gambit role for four years now, but the film itself has hit delay after delay as directors and releases dates change seemingly every few months.

Add to that the wrinkle of the fate of the X-Men being uncertain at this point due to the Disney-Fox deal still awaiting approval. For a while now it has seemed like we’ll never see it, but at the “Deadpool 2” premiere recently, “X-Men” producer Simon Kinberg says things look like they’re finally making progress. He tells Variety:

“We have a script that we love — that Channing loves. We’ve met with a bunch of directors in the last couple of weeks, and we’re hoping to actually pick one in the next couple of weeks and shoot the movie maybe the end of this summer.”

Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman and Gore Verbinski were all previously attached to direct but dropped out. For now, it’s still best advised to take everything with a grain of salt.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Spidey Spin-Off “Silver & Black” Pulled From Date





Sony Pictures has pulled its “Spider-Man” spin-off “Silver & Black” from their release schedule and has not set a new date.

The film was originally slated to open February 8th 2019, but with the movie’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood confirming the other week the movie is still very much in the middle of the scripting phase – there’s was no way it was going to make that date.

Prince-Bythewood, Chris Yost and Lisa Joy-Nolan have all worked on the script for the film which sees the characters of expertly-trained mercenary Silver Sable and master thief Black Cat teaming up.

Matt Tolmach and Amy Pascal are slated to produce.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“X-Force” To Begin After Delayed “Royale” Opens





As “Deadpool 2” has come and gone, the next chance we’ll get to see Ryan Reynolds’ Merc With The Mouth will be the upcoming “X-Force” spin-off film which hails from writer/director Drew Goddard (“The Cabin in the Woods”).

Goddard is currently putting the finishing touches on his darkly comic ensemble crime caper film “Bad Times At The El Royale” and recently did several days of press for the 20th Century Fox title which stars the likes of Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson and Cynthia Ervo. Speaking with Cinema Blend, he was asked when we could expect him to begin work on “X-Force”:

“It’s a good question. I’ve learned I’m very much a one-movie-at-a-time kind of guy, and they all know. It’s the same studio, which is nice, so they can say, ‘Okay, get [Bad Times At The El Royale] done,’ and then once I get this movie done and get this into theaters we’ll turn our attention that way.”

‘El Royale’ is notable for being rushed out – the film only began shooting in January and was originally slated to open October 5th, but this morning Fox delayed the film a week and will now open it October 12th so “X-Force” is looking likely to not begin filming until early next year. Fox also set an October 4th 2019 release for the Amy Adams-led “Rear Window”-esque thriller “Woman in the Window”.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Bryan Singer In Talks To Helm “Red Sonja”





Following being effectively thrown off “Bohemian Rhapsody,” though still retaining credit, filmmaker Bryan Singer is reportedly in talks to direct the new film adaptation of classic comic “Red Sonja” for Millennium Films.

The film, about the flame-haired female warrior character created by “Conan the Barbarian” author Robert E. Howard and comic writer Roy Thomas, has “X-Men: First Class” scribe Ashley Edward Miller penning the script.

Avi Lerner, Mark Canton, Courtney Solomon, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, and Luke Lieberman will produce the film. Singer has kept a low profile in recent months with this marking the first news about him outside of lawsuits, allegations of sexual assault and his exit from ‘Bohemian’.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Producers are now moving forward on their “Spider-Man” spin-off universe plans, confirming that the Jared Leto-led “Morbius the Living Vampire” film is next up for them and seemingly taking precedence over the “Silver and Black” film that previously seemed to be the next cab off the rank.

 

[Doctor Omega]

“Gambit” Is A ‘Romantic Comedy’?





Though the Disney and Fox merger won’t be complete until well into 2019, 20th Century Fox is not stopping development of its Channing Tatum-led “Gambit” film with a recent report indicating filming will begin in February in New Orleans – one day after the release of “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” on Valentine’s Day next year.

‘Dark Phoenix’ director Simon Kinberg has been involved with every project in the X-Men franchise since ‘First Class’ and returns as producer on “Gambit”. Speaking with IGN this week, he spoke about the tone of the film and surprisingly dubbed it a ‘romantic comedy’:

“When you look at Gambit, he’s a hustler and a womanizer and we just felt like there was an attitude, a swagger to him, that lent itself to romantic comedy. You know, when I say romantic comedy, I use that term loosely, in the same term that I use the term western for Logan loosely. It’s not like they’re gunslingers at high noon in Logan. It’s just a vibe.

And I would say the vibe of Gambit has a romantic or sex comedy vibe to it. While it is also still very much a superhero movie with villains and heroes, as all these movies are. Gambit has a great script and we’re looking to start that movie early next year.”

The project still hasn’t locked in a new director following Gore Verbinski’s exit in January. Rupert Wyatt and Doug Liman were also attached at one time or another before exiting. Whether they’ll make the February start date seems unlikely unless a helmer is locked in soon.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Bryan Singer Gets Major “Red Sonja” Payday?





A few weeks back came word that filmmaker Bryan Singer is reportedly in talks to direct the new film adaptation of classic comic “Red Sonja” for Millennium Films.

The news raised many eyebrows considering Singer was effectively thrown off “Bohemian Rhapsody” by studio 20th Century Fox after disappearing in the midst of production, and at the same time he was dealing with allegations of sexual assault.

In the current very risk-averse climate, studios aren’t keen on working with helmers with even a hint of scandal so it didn’t seem likely that Singer would become attached to direct another project anytime soon until the “Red Sonja” news hit.

Today, THR has added to the report saying that Singer is negotiating for a major payday of up to $10 million to direct the film about the flame-haired female warrior character created by “Conan the Barbarian” author Robert E. Howard and comic writer Roy Thomas.

“X-Men: First Class” scribe Ashley Edward Miller is penning the script for the project which Avi Lerner, Mark Canton, Courtney Solomon, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, and Luke Lieberman will produce.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Goddard: No Further “X-Force” Progress


While the Disney & Fox merger hasn’t yet closed, many have wondered what impact it will have on the various “X-Men” related projects that have been in development at Fox for years.

One such title is “X-Force,” a project that seems one of the likeliest to survive the merger as it’s being positioned more as the next entry in the “Deadpool” franchise as opposed to a straight “X-Men” spin-off.

It also has an impressive pedigree with “The Cabin in the Woods” and “Bad Times at the El Royale” writer/director Drew Goddard slated to helm. Out promoting the latter film opening this week, Goddard was asked for an update on the project by Fandangoand said sadly the film hasn’t really made any progress lately:

“There’s no real update to be honest. I tend to focus very intensely on one movie at a time. We’re just sort of finishing ‘Bad Times’ now, Ryan [Reynolds] is off shooting a movie and everyone sort of scattered, like dandelions to the wind. I think as we finish this up, we’ll all get together and start hammering out what we want to do next, but there’s no real update at this point. I can’t imagine there’s going to be a world where there aren’t more ‘Deadpool’ movies because, boy, Ryan Reynolds is extraordinary, and so, we’ll just see.”

Fox is busy with other “X-Men” projects in the works including “Dark Phoenix” and “The New Mutants” which are both due next Summer, and a potential “Gambit” movie.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Tatum May Direct The “Gambit” Film As Well?





As part of a news story this weekend of actor Channing Tatum leaving his longtime managers, there’s a brief update on the “X-Men” spin-off feature “Gambit”.

Tatum has been earmarked for the role of the card-throwing mutant for years, but numerous attempts to get the project going have failed with multiple directors being attached and then exiting including Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman and Gore Verbinski.

Now, Deadline says that Tatum might direct the film himself. Tatum has served as producer on several of his films but has never directed.

Reid Carolin penned the script for the film which has no start date and is seemingly in limbo as the Fox-Disney merger comes to a close. There’s already rumors the project will be scrapped once the Disney deal is complete.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Singer Still Attached To Helm “Red Sonja”





Millennium Films has issued a statement confirming that they’re standing behind filmmaker Bryan Singer in the wake of The Atlantic publishing its expose about the “X-Men” and “Usual Suspects” director who has been accused by four men of having sex with them whilst under the age of consent.

Singer has been attached to direct a reboot of the fantasy epic “Red Sonja” for the company for a while now, and is expected to collect a paycheck of up to $10 million for the gig. Producer Avi Lerner issued the following statement:

“I continue to be in development for Red Sonja and Bryan Singer continues to be attached. The over $800 million Bohemian Rhapsody has grossed, making it the highest grossing drama in film history, is testament to his remarkable vision and acumen. I know the difference between agenda driven fake news and reality, and I am very comfortable with this decision. In America people are innocent until proven otherwise.”

According to Heat Vision, Millennium has been inundated with calls and emails over the past day calling Millennium complicit if it continued to work with Singer, but Lerner is staying the course. Filming on the project is expected to begin in Bulgaria in the spring.

The Atlantic article was originally planned for the Hearst-owned Esquire magazine but was killed just before publication, leading it to be published where it was. Singer is now being handled by crisis PR guru Howard Bragman.