Blade Loses Its Director
Alex Gherzo | Sep 28, 2022 |
The Daywalker will have to sleep a little longer. Jeff Sneider of The Ankler tweeted that Bassam Tariq, the director of Marvel’s upcoming Blade reboot, has left the film. Moments later, The Hollywood Reporter posted the story and claimed it was an exclusive – likely because Marvel and Tariq issued statements to them, whereas Sneider learned the news from a source of his. The reasoning given is “shifts in [the] production schedule,” and Tariq will still be an executive producer. Beau DeMayo, who’s written for Moon Knight, The Witcher, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (oh boy), is currently reworking the script, which has seen a series of rewrites.
Hearing BLADE director has exited project…
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) September 28, 2022
I’m told BLADE filming has been pushed to November as Marvel searches for a new director. Also hearing Beau DeMayo has come on to work on the script.
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) September 28, 2022
How can it be exclusive when I tweeted it 3 minutes before you posted? Interesting… https://t.co/jhjTMlTLOp
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) September 28, 2022
However, Sneider one-ups his competition by dishing on some more information, things Marvel understandably neglected to share with THR. Apparently, the current script is a mess – 90 pages long with only two action scenes, which Sneider’s source describes as “lackluster.” He also says that Mahershala Ali, who stars as Blade in the film, is “frustrated” and that Kevin Feige is “spread too thin.” Blade will begin filming in November of 2022 for a November 3, 2023 release (which is, of course, the most important thing).
I’m told that the current BLADE script is roughly 90 pages and features exactly TWO (lackluster) action sequences. Mahershala said to be very frustrated with the process. Feige said to be spread too thin. But hey, that’s just what sources are telling me. Don’t shoot the messenger
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) September 28, 2022
It feels like there’s a revolving door at Marvel lately. I don’t know Bassam Tariq from Adam, which means he’s the prototypical Marvel director at the moment (inexperienced and cheap), and I imagine whoever they replace him with will fit that mold too. The script being in disarray makes sense for Marvel as well; there have been stories of the scripts being written and rewritten while the movies were shooting, with Marvel desperate to make sure the film was released on its scheduled date. I’m also not surprised about Kevin Feige being spread thin; aside from it making perfect sense considering the glut of Marvel content being produced in Phase 4, Midnight’s Edge reported a while back that this was the case and that Feige had delegated a lot of his responsibilities to Victoria Alonso (who, along with some other producers, have been pushing for a lot of the “All New, All Different Marvel” woke stuff, according to them). I’m not much looking forward to this movie – it’s going to be PG-13, which will feel like a watered-down version of the character after the hard-R first trilogy, and while I love Mahershala Ali, Wesley Snipes was iconic as Blade and still wanted to play him. But even still, production problems on a Marvel film feel like par for the course now.
Are you looking forward to Marvel’s new Blade movie? Who would you like to direct it now that Bassam Tariq has left? Will they force Wolverine into this one too? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned to Geeks + Gamers for more Marvel musical chairs!
