Yesterday was business report delivery time for Marvel Enterprises, reports which remain overtly optimistic. As in the previous first quarter reports, a gathering of the various 'comic book to film adaptation' projects status were brought up. Here's the list, including the most recent information surrounding them and comments from scooper 'Zephyr':
Marvel Character Feature Film Line-Up For 2004 Blade: Trinity - Targeting a December 10, 2004 release
Marvel Character Feature Film Line-Up For 2005 Elektra: New Regency / Fox - Script, Director, Filming started May '04, Jan. 14, 2005 release (just recently, Ben Affleck has said he'll have some type of cameo in the film)
Fantastic Four, Fox - Script, Director, Filming starts August '04, July 1, 2005 release (the actor playing Dr. Doom should be announced in the next couple of days) Iron Man, New Line Cinema - Script, Slated for November 2005 or Summer 2006 (with the clock ticking, it's interesting to see them include the Summer 2006 slot) Luke Cage, Sony/Columbia - Script, Director (the last rumored candidate was Tyrese, a favorite of Singleton) Man-Thing, Lions Gate/Fierce - TBD (was finished a while back, wasn't it?)
Marvel Character Entertainment Projects in Development For 2006 & Beyond (Development and release timing is controlled by Studio partners) The Avengers, Lions Gate - Slated for Q1 2006 release (animated DVD) X-Men 3, Fox - May 3, 2006 release (May 3 is a Wednesday, and Fox still seems confident in this release date, along with a push for a X3/X4 combo, yet the search for a director continues on) Namor, Universal Pictures - Script, Slated for Summer 2006 (recently, it was said that Chris Columbus would be taking on the Atlantean prince, who could be played by the Rock...I still think Jude Law is a better choice) Ghost Rider, Sony - Script, Director, Pre-production, Summer 2006 (strange thing is is that I've heard that they're aiming for a Spring 2006 release, similar to Hellboy. What's stranger is that Hellboy 2 might come around the same time. Could we have a super-natural hero from hell showdown?) Black Widow, Lions Gate - Writer, Director, Slated for 2006 release (reports point to Rebecca Romijin-Stamos to play the Russian femme fatale) The Punisher 2, Lions Gate - Writer, Director (in an interview today, Thomas Jane was treating the next movie like it was going into production tomorrow. Good sign. Last I heard, it's possible that Punisher 2 could come as early as Winter 2005)
The Hulk 2, Universal Pictures - Development (a tricky one, Arad has said that Gray Hulk could be a result as the psyche of Bruce, who desires to live with this, and "Hulk", who desires something else, end up with something worse) Deathlok, Paramount - Script (with Lee Tamahori off the project, Deathlok remains in limbo) Spider-Man 3, Sony/Columbia - Director, May 4, 2007 release (the only issue with this one is with the villians, with nearly 99.9999999% of reports being about Venom. Fans just want to see him...including me) Dr. Strange, Dimension - Contract (Arad said that nothing is really going on with the project) Iron Fist, Lions Gate - Contract (yeesh, this one's still topsy-turvy. Ray Park is still signed on, but even he has a limit to his patience) Silver Surfer, Fox - Contract, Development (the most out-of-the-blue candidate for directing this epic came the other day. Avi Arad said that while strolling through Europe, he met Baz Lurhmann (sp?) and was shocked by how much of a Silver Surfer freak he was) Ant-Man - TBD (out of the blue) Black Panther - TBD (last I heard, a company by MC Hammer was going to make a film that "inspired" by Black Panther. Also, Arad has said that the film will be like "a black James Bond-meets-Batman") Captain America - TBD (not much since that false rumor about that three-pic deal with Brad Pitt) Nick Fury - TBD (awhile ago, it was supposedly Samuel L. Jackson that was to bring the Ultimate version of Nick Fury to pictures) Thor - TBD (Arad has said that this project will be treated like LOTR, and they have found a way to blend in real and mythical elements together) Thanks to 'Robert'
