Fox Drops Update on Daredevil Reboot
Image via en.wikipedia.org
With the Avengers raking in US$178.4 million before even being released in the States, it comes to mind that not every Avenger from the comics is actually owned by Marvel Studios.
One of the newest Avengers in the comics is currently owned by 20th Century Fox, who has announced to deadline.com the progress of their plans to reboot.
The script for Daredevil is currently being rewritten by David James Kelly, and will be directed by David Slade who previously directed some kick-ass films like Hard Candy and The 30 Days of Night, as well as the stinker Twilight Saga: Eclipse (which probably made more money than the previous two combined).
The Daredevil reboot is based on the Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli run, Born Again where the Kingpin learns Daredevil‘s secret identity and messes with him, completely destroying his personal life.
My personal thoughts? A couple things come to mind:
1. They should have made this a sequel to 2003’s Daredevil instead of a reboot. The cinema cut was less than stellar, but the Director’s Cut is still one of my favorite superhero movies. But if cleverly written, like Hulk and Incredible Hulk, it could be written as a sequel for those who loved Daredevil as well as standing as its own film for those who hated it.
2. Who is this guy? David James Kelly has one credit to his name on IMDB and it’s not for writing. Correct me if I’m wrong but, from an outsider looking in, this looks like the story we always hear about executive types being given creative roles they’re ill suited for. If anyone can find more writing credits on David James Kelly, please let me know.
So that’s it in a nutshell. Daredevil will be back soon. I can see, directorially, it’s in competent hands, so I have hope.
But that’s what I said about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Honestly, Fox needs to move as quickly as possible to get this movie in theaters before the rights revert to Marvel/Disney. Most estimates peg that the rights might revert at the end of this year. That leads us to a couple of scenarios, either 1. Fox rushes the fuck out of this movie and keeps Daredevil for the next decade or 2. they see what Kelly’s script looks like and pass on it.
Honestly, I feel like they may just take the pass. They’ve done nothing with the franchise since Murdoch’s cameo in Elektra and at this point Daredevil (in film at least) is sort of an albatross around Fox’s neck. It wasn’t well received critically (to say nothing of Elektra which is one of the worst reviewed Marvel films), and is in the bottom of the Marvel film gross box office revenue.
Personally, I HOPE they let the rights revert to Marvel–then maybe we can get a decent enough DD film set in The Avengers continuity. But, then again, that’s my hope for ALL the Marvel properties that Fox and Sony currently reign over!