Tag: Mahershala Ali

'Blade': Jeymes Samuel Debunks Online Rumor He Was In Talks To Direct Marvel Reboot
Posted on in Film News, News

‘Blade’: Jeymes Samuel Debunks Online Rumor He Is In Talks To Direct Marvel Reboot

While Marvel Studios is gearing up to shoot things like “Spider-Man 4” with Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings”) directing and the Russo Brothers (“Avengers: Endgame”) making their triumphant return to the MCU for “Avengers: Doomsday,” another big tentpole project is still seeking a director. That project would be their “Blade” reboot after losing two previous helmers (Bassam Tariq and Yann Damage). One rumor can be put to bed after British filmmaker Jeymes Samuel (“The Book of Clarence,” “The Harder They Fall”) squashed the rumbling he was in talks with Marvel Studios for the gig starring Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight,” “Jurassic World Rebirth”) as the new Eric Brooks.

Stating, “I don’t know where these rumors start, but I am not in talks to do ‘Blade’ with Marvel.”

You can read his full rebuttal on that rumor he posted on Twitter yesterday below.

That aforementioned rumor originated from World of Reel, which has a spotty track record (putting it lightly) for reporting tidbits like these and was later disputed by Jeff Sneider on his YouTube podcast. So it wasn’t all that surprising that this turned out to be inaccurate.

Buyers, beware when it comes to rumors that might sound too good to be true as there are plenty of places, even from those who have strong reputations that haven’t been terribly accurate lately. An abundance of caution should be applied to mainly any non-trade reports or rumors from the jump anyway. Caution is certainly a sentiment shared by “Doctor Strange” director Scott Derrickson, who posted this evergreen message on social media today, warning folks how often rumors concerning Marvel projects tend to be bunk.

“In my years working for Marvel and in all the years since, I would say about 95% of what gets reported as Marvel news is false,” Derrickson posted on Twitter today.

Anyways, there do still seem to be plans to move forward with “Blade” despite the dust-up and extended delays to the horror/action film, which Kevin Feige reaffirmed is aiming to be another R-rated project after the huge success of the studios’ first R-rated release, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” destroyed box office records even with an adult-skewing audience. Funny enough, that film featured the return of Wesley Snipes as the Daywalker, which likely will help Marvel a lot by reminding the general public about the vampire-hunting character ahead of the new film.

I’m sure we’ll be hearing the real name of the director for “Blade,” hopefully soon, to end this online speculation and rumor mill.

SOURCE: JEYMES SAMUEL VIA TWITTER

BLADE REBOOT CONFIRMED BY MARVEL AS R-RATED
Posted on in Film News, News

‘Blade’: Marvel’s Kevin Feige Says R-Rating “Inherent, Like Deadpool, To The Character” Confirming Mature Tone For MCU Reboot

Kevin Feige, the co-president of Marvel Studios and chief creative officer, is doing press rounds for “Deadpool & Wolverine.” It’ll be the first R-rated superhero attempt from Marvel Studios on their own (they helped out by advising on Lionsgate’s “Punisher: War Zone”) and many of us had assumed that more would be on the horizon, including something like their gestating “Blade” reboot that has Mahershala Ali attached to play the new Eric Brooks.

Well, while speaking with BlackTree TV (See that interview below), Feige seemingly has confirmed that “Blade” is going to be echoing the previous trilogy of movies by taking a mature angle toward the vampire hunter when asked about an R-rating for their reboot.

“I think that’s right; I mean, for the last few years, we’ve been trying to crack that movie, and the most important thing, for us, is not rushing it and making the right ‘Blade’ movie. Because there were some great ‘Blade’ movies years ago they were all rated R. So, I think that’s inherent, like Deadpool, to the character of Blade.

You might remember that before director Yann Demange (“White Boy Rick”) exited the reboot, he said they planned to make the new film with an R-rating in mind. Feige’s new comments would seemingly support his November statement.

“They gave me the R, which is so important,” Demange said.

Of course, “Blade” has been having some issues as Feige does mention they’re not “rushing” as they’re trying to “crack” the reboot of a successful franchise. The project was first announced back in 2019 with Ali starring without any sort of plan in place, which has been partly the reason for all the delays and hiccups; it’s one of the few feature films at Marvel Studios that started with an actor before they were ready to go ahead.

Since then, we’ve seen Demange replace first director Bassam Tariq and exit with an overload of various drafts, polishes, and rewrites to the script. “Black Widow” screenwriter Eric Pearson is reportedly handling the latest version of the action-horror project.

As far as we know, both actors Mia Goth (“MaXXXine,” “Pearl”) and Delroy Lindo (“Da 5 Bloods”) are still involved with the movie. Also, a more recent trade report revealed Goth is playing the main villain of the film, Lilith (The vampire incarnation of the character, not the Mother of Demons from “Midnight Sons”) who is canonically in the comic books is the daughter of Dracula.

I’m sure we’ll get more updates about “Blade” at San Deigo Comic-Con (fingers crossed for a new director announcement), so stay tuned for those.

SOURCE: BLACK TREE TV

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Blade’ Director Yann Demange Confirms R-Rating For The MCU Reboot

There had been a huge debate about Marvel Studios and their upcoming “Blade” starring Mahershala Ali. That being if they’d aim for an R-rated film like the previous trilogy of movies (Led by Wesley Snipes) or tarnishing that mature branding going back to 1998 to court a younger audience with a PG-13 rating. However, it looks like we finally have an official answer to that question. While speaking with Deadline, the film’s current director Yan Demange (“White Boy Rick”) has confirmed that the studio has given him the greenlight to make an R-rated incarnation and would make this the second film made for adult audiences alongside “Deadpool 3.”

“They gave me the R, which is so important,” Demange said of the film’s rating.

“I come out of this wanting to be more open, more vulnerable and bring a more personal aspect to my work,” the director said. “But for Blade, we are going to have fun because Mahershala is such a deep actor. I’m excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness he has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that. He’s got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen.”

Eric Brooks, aka, Blade is a half-human/half-vampire hybrid who was born with vampire attributes but without deadly sensitivity to sunlight and silver, things that kill vampires that feed on the human population like cattle. One of the key aspects of the franchise has been its roots within exploitation and martial films including how our heroic vampire hunter dispenses vampires with silver bullets, swords, and other weapons. Blade is hardly a Marvel Comics character that children are aware of or looking forward to its reboot, so a PG-13 rating never made a lot of sense. Even more so when vampires are involved and you want to push into that horror angle, removing the gore would make these vampires less threatening given their whole thing is drinking blood and killing their victims in that manner.

“Blade” is currently undergoing rewrites by veteran screenwriter Michael Green (“Blade Runner 2049,” “Logan”) and we’ll likely know more about the film’s production once the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved. While the volume of screenwriters might look troublesome to outsiders, it’s very much a normal thing for movies of this scale to get things right before filming combined with the assumption that Ali has some sort of creative input on “Blade.” Getting things right isn’t always a bad thing and after Marvel Studios became known for trying to fix scripts during production or with editing/reshoots, polishing the script in the prep phase could be seen as a way to save money in the long run.

The rest of the cast includes Delroy Lindo, Mia Goth, and Aaron Pierre with an assumption that more names will be revealed once the strike is resolved and the casting process can resume.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in News

Marvel’s New ‘Blade’ Movie Adds Veteran Actor Delroy Lindo

Marvel Studios has been getting a string of character rights returned to the company. The rights deal expired as seen with Daredevil/Blade/Ghost Rider or in the case of X-Men/Fantastic Four, they had been absorbed into the Disney umbrella when they acquired 21st Century Fox.

In 2019, it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali would be replacing Wesley Snipes as the action-horror superhero Blade in a reboot film. It was later revealed by Marvel’s Kevin Feige that Ali had directly asked about playing Blade, despite them not having current plans for the character outside of ideas of doing a series at the now-disbanded Marvel Television.

Last week, it was revealed by The Hollywood Reporter that veteran character Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods, The Harder They Fall) has taken a mystery role in the film from director Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli).

Days before the report, I mentioned on Twitter about Lindo joining the reboot.

Filming is said to begin the late summer but has yet to get an official release date and Marvel hasn’t confirmed if they’ll be pursuing an R-rating or not.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in News

SPOILERS: Chloe Zhao Confirms Secret Cameo In ‘Eternals’

*SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ETERNALS YOU’VE BEEN WARNED*

This weekend finally sees Chloe Zhao’s MCU debut with Eternals after multiple delays due to the pandemic and brings the Jack Kirby characters to the big screen alongside Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman, aka, The Black Knight Knight.

Without getting too deep into the other big post-credit scene, a second one features Whitman and another unseen character that is only heard. Director Chloe Zhao has now confirmed to Fandom that this character is indeed Mahershala Ali’s Blade, who will lead his very own solo film directed by Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli).

Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) is by himself, staring at a case with his family crest on it. Dane has to psych himself up, saying “You can do this, you can do this,” before he opens the case and reveals a sword inside, as an eerie sound briefly erupts from within the case. Dane translates words inscribed on the inside of the case, reading “Death is my reward.” He looks down at the sword, which has some sort of strange, liquid-like movement rippling across it. As he prepares to touch the sword, Dane declares, “I’m sorry, I have to try,” only to be interrupted by the voice of a man, who we don’t see, but who says to Dane, from off-camera, “Sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?”

“That was the voice of one of my favorite superheroes, Mr. Blade himself. Blade, Blade, Blade, yeah,” Zhao tells Fandom confirming Blade’s cameo in the post-credit scene.

This isn’t a huge revelation as Mahershala Ali’s Blade was announced all the way back at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 and the reboot movie is said to begin production next year, potentially for a release date in 2023/2024.

However, Eric Brooks’ interest in the Ebony Blade or preventing Dane from using it is unclear, but it’ll be interesting to see if Blade/Brooks will be showing up in other projects before his solo film. Then again, Brooks has been known to get involved with all sorts of occult heroes and Black Knight would technically be part of that group given the supernatural death curse attached to the Ebony Blade.

Could Blade be recruiting Whitman for The Midnight Sons?

SOURCE: FANDOM

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Blade’ Director Bassam Tariq To Contribute As A Writer On The Marvel Reboot

We’ve been somewhat kept in the dark about Marvel Studios’ Blade reboot as the project is currently in development stages with two-time Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali (Luke Cage, Moonlight, Green Book) attached to play a new MCU incarnation of vampire hunter, Eric Brooks. Trade reports suggested that filming could begin as early as next year.

The Ronin has learned that director Bassam Tariq is expected to be involved with the writing process alongside previously announced screenwriter Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen, Hunters), however, how much he’ll be contributing isn’t terribly clear at the moment.

Tariq wrote both the story and screenplay for his buzzed-about drama Mogul Mowgli starring Oscar-nominee Riz Ahmed (Rogue One, Venom, Sound of Metal).

It isn’t uncommon for Marvel directors to get involved with a script after a screenwriter has been hired, there are some recent examples with Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings), Sam Raimi (Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness), and Chloe Zhao (Eternals).

The filmmaker has already hinted to collaborative working environment with Ali and Osei-Kuffour, praising the two in interviews, including while speaking with IndieWire.

“What’s exciting about the film that we’re making is [there] hasn’t been a canon for Blade, as we’re reading through the comics and everything. Him being a daywalker is the one thing that’s been established, and you know we can’t deny what Wesley Snipes did, which was he basically got this whole ball rolling. A Black man created the superhero world that we’re in, that’s just the truth. For me to now be working with somebody as talented and a juggernaut as Mahershala Ali, and the writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour, I’m just so — I’m so honored to be working with real Black juggernauts and Black talent. For me to just be with them in this room and listen and learn as I build this out, it’s really an honor.”

Blade fans like myself are extremely curious what this new incarnation is going to look like and if they’ll ultimately bring in The Vampire Nation to the MCU with a mature franchise or water it down for a family-friendly audience. At the very least, continuing this idea they are this global entity while also have their own ancient texts and language.

Despite having most of the key players hired, Marvel Studios has yet to give Blade an official release date. Hopefully, they’ll announce one before the end of the year.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Blade’: Director Bassam Tariq Praises Wesley Snipes/Original Film Alongside Reboot’s Black Talent

Not too long ago, director Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) confirmed to The Playlist he had signed-on to direct the new Blade reboot for Marvel Studios and kept coy about his plans for the Daywalker.

“Character is very important for me. I don’t think of genre, I think of character. It’s not so boxed in as people imagine it to be [working with Marvel Studios]. It’s quite exciting. And I think the reality is there is no Blade canon, you know? If you ever read the comics, they’re always changing…Unfortunately, the [comic book series] never lasted that long.”

If you’re not familiar with the behind-the-scenes development of Blade, star Wesley Snipes worked closely with director Stephen Norrington and screenwriter David S. Goyer shaping the exploitation comic book character for the big screen.

While speaking with IndieWire last month, the Pakistani-American filmmaker praised not only what Wesley Snipes did as a creative force on the original films, but also highlighting the work that star Mahershala Ali and screenwriter Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen, Hunters) are doing as fellow collaborators on the reboot.

“What’s exciting about the film that we’re making is [there] hasn’t been a canon for Blade, as we’re reading through the comics and everything. Him being a daywalker is the one thing that’s been established, and you know we can’t deny what Wesley Snipes did, which was he basically got this whole ball rolling. A Black man created the superhero world that we’re in, that’s just the truth. For me to now be working with somebody as talented and a juggernaut as Mahershala Ali, and the writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour, I’m just so — I’m so honored to be working with real Black juggernauts and Black talent. For me to just be with them in this room and listen and learn as I build this out, it’s really an honor.”

It’ll be interesting if they’ll consider bringing The Vampire Nation to the MCU and we still don’t know if the R-rated action franchise will be turned into something more family-friendly with the studio’s standard PG-13 rating. Then again, Marvel has confirmed Deadpool 3 will be R-rated, giving us hope projects like Blade might also keep it’s mature aspects.

Outside of trade reports of Blade shooting next year, we don’t have an official release date (will likely be announced soon) or a supporting cast that will be assembled around Mahershala Ali.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

SOURCE: INDIEWIRE

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Blade’: Bassam Tariq Confirms He’s Signed On To Direct The Marvel Reboot

Not too long ago it was reported that director Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) was the frontrunner to helm Marvel Studios’ Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali. The director has confirmed this, but also that he’s signed on.

During a chat with The Playlist Podcast, Tariq talked a little bit about screenwriter Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Hunters, Watchmen), praising her and working on Blade.

“Yes, I can confirm I am directing Blade, Marvel is letting me do it.”

“I didn’t think [‘Blade’] was going to happen, just to be very honest. I’m honored and it’s a privilege, but I’m here in service of Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who is the incredible writer that is writing the film…She’s just a phenomenal presence and a juggernaut in her own right. And for Mahershala [Ali]. For me, it’s really just working in their service. [Marvel] takes big swings, you know?…I can’t say anything about it, but I’m just so excited for what we’re doing.”

“Character is very important for me. I don’t think of genre, I think of character. It’s not so boxed in as people imagine it to be [working with Marvel Studios]. It’s quite exciting. And I think the reality is there is no ‘Blade’ canon, you know? If you ever read the comics, they’re always changing…Unfortunately, the [comic book series] never lasted that long.”

Eric Brooks aka Blade is a vampire hunter, that happens to be half-vampire himself and allows him to be immune sunlight/silver making him stronger than a majority of adversaries. The main antagonists for Blade are The Vampire Nation, the secretive group of shadowy figures that have a stranglehold on positions of power in human society and have sects all over the world.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Loki production designer Kasra Farahani is considered for the production team. A release or cast have yet to be announced by Marvel, we’ll have to wait and see about that information.

SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST

Posted on in Features

‘Loki’ Production Designer Kasra Farahani Would Be Perfect For ‘Blade’

Marvel’s Blade reboot goes back to 2013 when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a script (after the rights reverted from New Line Cinema) was being worked in-house at the studio as part of their writing program alongside Ms. Marvel (would later turn into Captain Marvel). Six years later and it was announced that two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Predators, Alita: Battle Angel, Luke Cage, True Detectives) would be starring in a brand new movie, In turn, officially rebooting the Blade franchise that was launched back in 1998 with Wesley Snipes.

This year it was revealed by trades that writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen, Hunters) is currently writing the film’s screenplay and Deadline first reported over the summer that Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) was the frontrunner to direct the reboot.

An excellent creative combination.

Eric Brooks aka Blade is a vampire hunter, that happens to be half-vampire himself and allows him to be immune sunlight/silver making him stronger than a majority of adversaries. The main antagonists for Blade are The Vampire Nation, the secretive group of shadowy figures that have a stranglehold on positions of power in human society and have sects all over the world.

With Marvel’s increased budgets, it allows this new incarnation of Blade became more of a globetrotting franchise and we could see vampires in various countries, we’ve seen Asian vampires teased in the original and it would be neat to see Blade in Japan, Hong Kong or….even they newly established island nation of Madripoor.

I would love to see Loki production designer Kasra Farahani work on Blade as he’s someone who I think could be the perfect person to help bring the world of the Vampire Nation to the modern MCU.

He brought such a cinematic value to Loki as it was cited that Faranhani was influenced by Mad Men and Ridley Scott’s benchmark sci-fi film Blade Runner. Kasra previously contributed concept art to Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, Star Trek into Darkness, and even the unmade BioShock movie (has Guillermo del Toro feel to it) for director Gore Verbinski.

It wouldn’t be the first time that someone from Disney+ series making the jump to the feature films as Loki cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw is officially working on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, giving that film a striking visual palate.

The Ronin has spotted that director Bassam Tariq (hasn’t officially closed his deal) is now following Farahani on Instagram, which could suggest there is a shot the production designer may indeed end up working on the Blade reboot, if Tariq signs on to direct.

You can check out of Kasra Farahani’s excellent work on the Loki series below.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

Posted on in Film News

‘Blade’: Marvel Reportedly Eyeing ‘Mogul Mowgli’ Director Bassam Tariq For Reboot

Marvel Studios has been developing a Blade project going back to 2013, when it was reported that they were developing in-house script for both Blade and Ms. Marvel (later turned into Captain Marvel). However, when Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali (Alita: Battle Angel, Moonlight, Luke Cage) approached Marvel about playing Eric Brooks, they weren’t exactly planning on moving forward with a film at that time until Ali’s enthusiasm got them to rethink that. The studio announced the casting and the project moving forward at the end of San Diego Comic-Con 2019.

The Blade reboot might have a director announcement coming very soon.

Deadline reports that indie director Bassam Tariq, worked with Riz Ahamed (Venom, Rogue One, Sound of Metal) on the British rap movie Mogul Mowgli, is the studio’s top choice to helm the action horror reboot.

A script is being worked on by writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who wrote on HBO’s Watchmen series and the Jordan Peele-produced Hunters.

Eric Brooks aka Blade is a vampire hunter, that happens to be half-vampire himself and allows him to be immune sunlight/silver making him stronger than a majority of adversaries. The main antagonists for Blade are The Vampire Nation, the secretive group of shadowy figures that have a stranglehold on positions of power in human society and have sects all over the world. This makes the new incarnation of Blade a global franchise and we could see vampires in various countries, we’ve seen Asian vampires teased in the original and it would be neat to see Blade in Japan or Hong Kong.

I was massively let down with Marvel’s Black Widow movie after producers and Scarlett Johansson talked-up the action being the best in the MCU, only for them to give us generic fight sequences and an overuse of cartoony CGI (Blade’s worst element is the poorly aged CGI) that quickly dissolved the grittier tone they had been aiming for. I’m hoping that Marvel takes Blade’s action scenes a little more seriously by hiring 87Eleven Action Design (John Wick 1-4, Atomic Blonde) or bring back Liang Yang (Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness) to handle the fight choreography.

End of the day, the Blade is an action franchise with horror elements. The original three movies (third produced by Kevin Feige) led by Wesley Snipes were R-rated projects and Marvel Studios/Disney kept saying over multiple years that Deadpool 3 would be keeping it’s R-rating. There is a good chance since most kids have no idea who Blade is that the vampire hunter might keep his original rating. Also, I’m not sure how interesting PG-13 vampire movie is going to be without blood or invented deaths for vampires at the hands of Blade.

There had been chatter about the studio potentially shooting Blade next year, but Marvel Studios hasn’t given the project a release date and this directorial candidate hasn’t signed a deal. I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer for some official announcements from Kevin Feige/Marvel.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

SOURCE: DEADLINE