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WIRE Buzz: Sam Raimi seemingly confirms Doctor Strange 2 gig; Influx taps Bloodshot director; more
It sounds like Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man) will indeed helm Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for Marvel Studios.
In an interview with ComingSoon about 50 States of Fright, the filmmaker alluded to the Strange subject while discussing a scene in Spider-Man 2, where The Daily Bugle's J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) attempts to come up with a flashy moniker for Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina). His employee Hoffman (Ted Raimi, Sam's brother) suggests "Doctor Strange," which Jameson concedes as being "pretty good," only to follow that up with "but it's taken!"
“I loved Doctor Strange as a kid, but he was always after Spider-Man and Batman for me, he was probably at number five for me of great comic book characters,” Raimi said. “He was so original, but when we had that moment in Spider-Man 2, I had no idea that we would ever be making a Doctor Strange movie, so it was really funny to me that coincidentally that line was in the movie. I gotta say I wish we had the foresight to know that I was going to be involved in the project."
The Doctor Strange sequel lost original director Scott Derrickson (who also directed the first movie) over creative differences in early January. Reports about Raimi being in talks as a replacement arrived less than a month later, in early February. Derrickson, who will remain aboard in a producing capacity, praised the decision on Twitter. Five days later, Loki showrunner Michael Waldron was hired to write the screenplay. It is unclear what happened to original scribe Jade Bartlett.
Somehow tying into WandaVision on Disney+, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness arrives in theaters everywhere Nov. 5, 2021. Described as the MCU's first horror movie, the follow-up was going to debut in May of next year, but ended up delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Details on Disney's amended release schedule can be found here.
Following Bloodshot, director David S.F. Wilson has found his next genre film. Per Deadline, Wilson has been tapped to oversee an adaptation of Daniel Suarez's sci-fi thriller novel Influx.
A winner of the Prometheus Award, the 2014 book tells the story of Jon Grady, a physicist who makes a life-changing scientific discovery. Soon after, Grady is imprisoned by a shadowy organization calling itself the Bureau of Technology Control, a group that wants to "suppress the truth of sudden technological progress and prevent the social upheaval it would trigger," reads the synopsis.
Lights Out producer Zak Olkewicz is writing the screenplay. Todd Black, Steve Tisch, Jason Blumenthal, and Tony Shaw are producing.
Based on the Valiant comic of the same name, Sony's Bloodshot ran in theaters for about a week before the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down. The film made just over $28 million at the worldwide box office before hitting VOD platforms months earlier than planned.
Starting in early May, AMC will begin to air episodes from the first season of Greg Nicotero's Creepshow reboot. The horror anthology series, which is based on the 1982 movie written by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero, is primarily a Shudder exclusive.
“Nothing could make me happier than to continue my creative relationship with AMC by having Creepshow play on AMC Networks,” Nicotero said in a statement. “This project truly is a labor of love for me and an opportunity for me to continue the legacy of George Romero by continuing the tradition of Creepshow with scary, thrilling and fun takes of suspense and terror.”
A protégée of Tom Savini, Nicotero is head of special effects make-up for the network's adaptation of The Walking Dead.
“Creepshow was a phenomenal success in its first season on Shudder. As we continue to experiment with show sharing across our portfolio of defining brands at AMC Networks, it felt like a no brainer to give fans of Greg Nicotero’s masterful zombie work on The Walking Dead Universe a chance to see this, his passion project,” added Sarah Barnett, president of AMC Networks’ Entertainment Group and AMC Studios. “Greg’s Creepshow is a brilliant homage to the original classic horror film and we couldn’t be happier to air it on AMC, or more grateful to our colleagues at Shudder.”
Between May 4 and May 18, two episodes of Creepshow Season 1 will air back to back every Monday at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Featuring stories by King, Joe Hill, Joe R. Lansdale, and Josh Malerman, Season 1 attracted an all-star ensemble of David Arquette, Adrienne Barbeau, Tobin Bell, Big Boi, Jeffrey Combs, Kid Cudi, Bruce Davison, Giancarlo Esposito, Dana Gould, Tricia Helfer, and DJ Qualls.
Production on Season 2 of Creepshow is currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
