A Venom Film in the Works Again??

Josh Trank Eyes Spider-Man Spinoff, Venom
by Silas Lesnick
March 06, 2012
Share this story
Tweet

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, The LA Times is reporting that Chronicle director Josh Trank is in talks to direct Venom, a feature film based on the "Spider-Man" character.

First appearing in the comic book series as an alien costume worn by Spider-Man in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #252 in 1984, it was several years before the creature left Peter Parker and merged with photographer Eddie Brock, forming the antihero known as Venom. Since then, the character has appeared in a variety of different forms and bonded with several different hosts. In the "Ultimate" Marvel Universe, the suit has a more terrestrial origin, created by Parker and Brock's scientist parents in an attempt to cure cancer.

Venom has appeared on the big screen before in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, played by Topher Grace. It is unlikely that the proposed film will bear any connection to that take on the character, though it remains to be seen if the project will connect in any form to July 3rd's The Amazing Spider-Man.

Sony has allegedly toyed with the idea of a Venom spinoff in the past, but this new version is rumored to be unconnected to previous drafts. Check back for studio confirmation and official details as soon as they become available.

'Venom' Movie May Tie into 'Amazing Spider-Man' Avengers-Style
Share

By Matt Patches , Hollywood.com Staff | Saturday, June 09, 2012
Add to Mixx!
Add to Yahoo! Buzz

ALTBesides being one of the year's biggest box office winners, the success of The Avengers is already showing off its creative influence throughout Hollywood. For more than a decade, superhero movies and franchises were coveted summer tentpoles, recognizable characters with epic adventures ripe for adaptation — but Marvel's The Avengers upped the ante. The comic book titan's five years of strategic interconnectivity and world building, beginning with 2008's Iron Man, paid off with a grand crescendo, one that resulted in approval of fans and big returns.

Other studios foresaw the success even before Avengers hit theaters. Earlier this week, we learned DC/Warner Bros. is moving forward with their plan to assemble the Justice League, and based on Hollywood.com's conversation with The Amazing Spider-Man producers Avi Arad and Matthew Tolmach, the world of Spider-Man may be in the for the same interwoven storytelling.

While promoting Spider-Man, Arad and Tolmach alluded that their next project, Venom would be developed in a similar fashion that could potentially tie the films together. "What I'm trying to say to you without giving anything away is hopefully all these worlds will live together in peace someday," hinted Tolmach. Venom , which Chronicle director Josh Trank is rumored to helm, will follow Eddie Brock, a character previously introduced in Spider-Man 3. Don't expect any carryover, as Venom will be following Amazing Spider-Man's modern, realistic approach.

"It's an Eddie Brock story," explained Arad. "We want to be as close to the comics as possible. Especially in Eddie Brock's story. But again, pseudo-sceince is becoming science. All these tidbits about webs, artificial webs, is a huge industry now. Spiderwebs have unique qualities that will be huge for communications, fibers, and so forth. So we have taken the approach that we want to make the huge amazing movie about Eddie." Commitment to reality and tangibility is a key factor to Amazing Spider-Man. From Arad's description, the scientific slant will be a point of interest in Venom.

Tolmach and Arad insisted their Eddie Brock, who was drawn in early incarnations as a muscled man, would be more grounded. "He was a journalist. He had the wrong story, he got in trouble for it, he got fired," explains Tolmach, who also went on to describe his and Arad's approach to adapting Marvel properties. "The whole essence to us for the Marvel characters. Stay close to the bible, stay close to the emotional story, and the rest is fun."

When Venom eventually hits theaters, expect it to feel intrinsically connected to July's Amazing Spider-Man. As Tolmach puts it: "Look for the worlds to make sense with one another." The big question: will Nic Cage's Ghost Rider pop up in the Sony/Marvel world collision? Anything's possible when two of Hollywood's biggest producers dream big...

Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches