After progress on Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film was halted, here comes another victim of the writers strike …
THR is reporting that Marvel’s “Blade” reboot, set to shoot next month, has been paused in pre-production mode and effectively shut down. The studio plans to resume work on the project once the strike concludes.
This movie is cursed.
It was all the way back in 2019, at San Diego’s ComicCon, that Marvel had announced Mahershala Ali as the next Blade. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after that and the film became a question mark. Production on “Blade” was delayed more than once. Its original director left in the fall of 2022, delaying things even further.
French filmmaker Yann Demange (“71,” “White Boy Rick”) was hired to replace Bassam Tariq. Mia Goth was added to the cast alongside Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre.
Last week, “True Detective” creator/writer Nic Pizzolatto was tapped to pen the latest round of rewrites. This was, at least, the fourth writer to officially take on the “Blade” reboot after Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Michael Starrbury and Beau DeMayo. Is Pizzolatto the final one?
Guillermo del Toro set the tone for the original series with his R-rated “Blade II,” many believe that one to be the essential tackling of the vampire hero. Technically, in the comics, at least, Blade is born a half-vampire, but is resistant to sunlight, silver, and garlic.
The film has (had) a release date of September 4, 2024. We presume it’ll now be pushed further …