Joe Robert Cole nears deal to pen “Black Panther” for MarvelOctober 7, 2015 - 16:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Joe Robert Cole (FX’s “American Crime Story”) is nearing a deal to write “Black Panther” for Marvel, TheWrap has exclusively learned. Marvel had no comment. Marvel’s Kevin Feige is set to produce “Black Panther,” which will star Chadwick Boseman (“Get On Up”) as T’Challa, a.k.a. the titular superhero from the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Andy Serkis is also expected to reprise his role as Ulysses Klaw from “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” though his involvement remains unconfirmed. While a recent report stated that F. Gary Gray is a contender to direct “Black Panther,” the truth is that there are no serious contenders at this stage — at least not anymore since Gray will be directing “Fast and Furious 8” — and the search is considered wide-open. “Selma” filmmaker Ava DuVernay was offered “Black Panther,” but turned it down because she said “it really wasn’t going to be an Ava DuVernay film.” Marvel is known for maintaining creative control on its films, as each must fit within its cinematic universe. After the DuVernay kerfuffle, Marvel decided not to go out to any directors until they have a finished screenplay. Meanwhile, Gray’s representatives just began negotiating for him to direct “Fast and Furious 8,” which is expected to take him out of contention for “Black Panther.” Disney has slated “Black Panther” for release on July 6, 2018, while Universal will release “Fast and Furious 8” on April 14, 2017. Though technically possible, it’s extremely unlikely Gray would be able to direct both tentpoles, as each require a tremendous amount of focus from preproduction to postproduction. Cole has been part of Marvel’s in-house writer’s program, which counts “Guardians of the Galaxy” scribe Nicole Perlman among its alumni. He has been rumored to have taken a crack at an “Inhumans” script for Marvel, but either way, he is not currently involved with that project and if a draft was indeed written, it is not expected to be used by the studio. Given that “Black Panther” is Marvel’s first major superhero of color, the studio is intent on making diverse hires to write and direct the comic book movie. Cole is an African-American filmmaker who previously wrote and directed the 2011 indie thriller “Amber Lake” and worked on Summit/Lionsgate’s alien invasion project “Revoc.” Photo: TheWrap Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Turkey extends military presence in Azerbaijan The Turkish parliament has adopted a bill submitted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend the mandate of Turkish troops. Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. |