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Wednesday
07Oct2009

Gary Ross to Write and Direct 'Venom'?

DateWednesday, October 7, 2009 at 4:35PM
Hmm...now this is interesting. As a fan of Gary Ross, I'd like to see the writer-director of Dave, Pleasantville, and Seabiscuit work a little more frequently. He's currently working on Tokyo Suckerpunch and the script for Spider-Man 4, and Variety says he might be the latest big name director to helm a Marvel Comics movie.

The rumor is that he's going to direct Venom, as well as polish the script turned in by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the guys riding highest on the success of Zombieland. As great as that screenplay was, Gary Ross brings a little more experience with character development, although you could obviously claim that his style is between 90 and 180 degrees away from where Venom should optimally be.

We don't know much else other than Topher Grace shouldn't be waiting for a call - no surprise - and that Sony wants to start over from scratch with the character.

Question: What the hell is the point of baking these characters into superhero movies in order to give them a spin-off if you're just going to start over anyway? In hindsight, of course, Venom as a character would have been much better off never being in Spider-Man 3. The movie was bad, the guy who played the part won't be in the new movie, and the story he was involved in has no real bearing on the next film. So again, what the hell is the point?

I like Venom, though I confess that I'm not overwhelmingly familiar with the character. From what I do know, I still don't think Gary Ross is Option A, but he's earned the benefit of the doubt.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment2 Comments |

Reader Comments (2)

Wasn't Venom in the works long before Spider-Man 3? Technically that doesn't make it a spin-off...

Thursday, October 8, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMM

...It was in development to be a spin-off from Spider-Man 3 before 3 opened, but it was never intended as a standalone piece, no.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 | Registered CommenterColin Boyd

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