Marvel Studios is temporarily shutting down production-related activities pertaining to Blade, its upcoming adaptation of the half-vampire character popularized by Wesley Snipes in the original 1998 film from Stephen Norrington and its two sequels, Blade II and Blade: Trinity. The decision was partially prompted by Marvel’s need to find a new and suitable director, having lost Bassam Tariq, who was originally tasked with leading the film, just two weeks ago. Disney is actually shifting the dates for a number of its upcoming projects, including Avengers: Secret Wars and Fantastic Four, both of which have been delayed.
- Chevalier: April 27, 2023
- A Haunting in Venice: September 15, 2023
- Blade: September 6, 2024 (previously November 3, 2023)
- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: May 24, 2024
- Untitled Deadpool Movie: November 8, 2024 (previously September 6, 2024)
- Fantastic Four: February 14, 2025 (previously November 8, 2024)
- Untitled Marvel Movie: November 7, 2025 (previously February 14, 2025)
- Avengers: Secret Wars: May 1, 2026 (previously November 7, 2025)
- Untitled Marvel Movie 2: Removed from schedule (previously May 1, 2026)
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Blade had seen its start of production shift at least a couple of times as it underwent several rounds of script rewrites. Beau DeMayo, who has worked on shows such as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Witcher and its animated feature spinoff, as well as Marvel’s own Moon Knight, is the current writer.
When Tariq left the project, many presumed that a director would be quickly slotted in so the production wouldn’t miss too much time. But in the two weeks that have followed, it became clear that Marvel wanted to slow down and deepen the search. At the same occasion, the studio thought it should take the time to coagulate other aspects of the feature project.
Marvel Studios Pauses ‘Blade’ Movie Amid Search for New Director (Exclusive) https://t.co/MFtZL5dAVI
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 11, 2022
Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali will play Blade in the new feature. His credits include Moonlight and Greenbook, which he won Academy Awards for in 2017 and 2019, respectively, as well as season three of True Detective and the first season of Luke Cage, in which he starred as Cornell Stokes, otherwise known as Cottonmouth.