MARVEL's Blade starring Mahershala Ali

DCBaker

Premium Member
"After parting ways with director Bassam Tariq, Marvel Studios has moved fast and found not only his replacement but a new writer as well as Sources tell Deadline Yann Demange has signed on to direct the pic with Michael Starrbury to write a new script. Mahershala Ali is starring in titular role with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige producing.

After Tariq moved on from project, Marvel decided not to rush on finding his replacement as they wanted to make sure they got the right director and writer and decided to push pause on pre-production. They would also rearrange their release schedule, with the film now bowing on Sept. 6, 2024 and production now schedule to start next year in Atlanta.

By having the extra time to meet with candidates, Marvel could now zero in on the writer and director who could deliver the tone they wanted to achieve with this film. While it probably won’t be as dark as the previous Blade pics, Insiders say Marvel is looking to go with a darker tone on this film than other MCU projects have been in the past. Following weeks of meetings and pitches, Demange would land the job after delivering a pitch that execs were excited about.

Demange big break came on the drama 71 starring Jack O’Connell. The film earned rave reviews and put Demange on the map and ultimately landed him the directing job on the Matthew McConaughey crime drama, White Boy Rick. Demange’s other credits include Lovecraft Country and will direct and executive produce Scanners the series for HBO and the film Dammi with his production company Wayward, alongside AMI and Vixens.

As for Starrbury, the scribe has been in-demand following his Emmy nominated work on critically acclaimed limited series When They See Us. He also recently exec produced the limited series Colin in Black & White."

 

DCBaker

Premium Member
"Nic Pizzolatto has gone Marvel.

The creator of acclaimed crime anthology, True Detective, is working on Blade, Marvel Studios’ vampire thriller starring Mahershala Ali.

The development marks a True Detective reunion as Ali starred in season three of Pizzolatto’s HBO show.

Blade is batting its wings towards a late May start of production in Atlanta with Yann Demange, who helmed the pilot of HBO’s boundary-pushing horror series Lovecraft Country, in the director’s chair."

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"Blade currently has a script by Michael Starrbury, who earned an Emmy nomination for penning an episode of Ava DuVernay’s drama, When They See Us. Sources say Pizzolatto is working off Starrbury’s draft and has been keyboarding for a few weeks now."

 

DCBaker

Premium Member
"The writers strike has taken a bite out of Blade.

Marvel Studios is shutting down pre-production on its vampire thriller starring Mahershala Ali, which was set to begin filming next month in Atlanta. The feature project, which has already been paused once before, becomes the first tentpole movie impacted by the strike.

Cast and crew members are being notified this afternoon."

Full article below.

 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
I like how they rehashed one of the most stupid internet rumors of Blade himself being a minor character in a Blade movie which obviously trolled the incel community by claiming without a source it was going to be a girl power movie -- and then put that insane rumor on par with one of the writer's dispute of that rumor being true.

Hope they enjoy all the clicks and "engagement" for bringing that up again.
 

LSLS

Well-Known Member
Honestly I'm shocked this movie is still going forward. With Marvel seemingly needing a more cohesive overall storyline and all the issues this movie has had (and it already being like 5 years since announcement), I figured this was a prime target to just get scrapped.
 

Tha Realest

Well-Known Member
Uh oh.
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MoonRakerSCM

Well-Known Member
You know why? Because it's a project that a world leading entertainment company should have down pat concerning how it progresses. Instead of going normally, it has now lost not 1 but 2 project managers.

Regardless of the reasoning, it's not normal, it's not positive, and it shows the production is a mess/disjointed/confused/whatever word you want to use aka 'chaos'.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member

Blade is once again in search of new talent behind the camera. Filmmaker Yann Demange has exited the long-gestating project, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.​
The departure is described as amicable and happened some time ago. It’s the latest in a number of creative challenges for the project, which Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige announced to fanfare at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 when he surprised the crowd by bringing out star Mahershala Ali, and presenting him with a Blade cap.​
Blade was preparing to go into production in the fall of 2022 when director Bassam Tariq exited over creative differences. Then, sources say, Ali handpicked Lovecraft Country helmer Demange to direct, but months later it became one of the major features delayed by the writers strike in May 2023. As of yet, it never made it to production.​
Ali remains attached to star in the project, and the studio is not looking to rush the film. Marvel mainstay Eric Pearson is working on the latest draft of the project, which has a release date of Nov. 7, 2025. The Blade news also comes as Marvel recalibrates its output and expects to have more breathing room as it releases around two films a year, following pressures to ramp up film and TV content in the early 2020s.​
 

MoonRakerSCM

Well-Known Member
So?

He had creative input, was captaining the ship for a while, now he's gone. Amicable doesn't change the resulting disjointedness and creative challenges for the project.
 

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
OR... the delay in production has those attached to it bailing for more immediate work.

Why assume the worst?
That's fair. But we are talking about Disney. They've had a lot of issues getting things to the big screen so it's not that odd for someone to think problem. They are probably retooling it to reflect the changes to the direction of the mcu. But that still doesn't mean it's all gloom, but it's also not all sunshine and roses. I find there's a distinct correlation between sub par movies and constant changes with the main staff.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
I understand that someone *could* think that there's some sort of problem as being *possible.*

I don't understand when someone presumes there's trouble when there could be other scenarios at play.

The article I posted explained external forces working against production as well as creative problems. It doesn't have to be black or white. And until more info comes out, presuming the worst is just... exhausting.
 

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