My Entertainment World has just posted Venom's production listing. It says that the film will start shooting this fall. It also posits the genre of the film to be “Action/Horror/Sci-fi,” a sure sign that this will all lead to a much wanted R rating.
There's also no word yet on whether this film will, somehow, find its way into the MCU, given that this is a property of the currently struggling Sony, and not Marvel's usual go-to, Disney, and that Sony has, so far, been rushing this project to the top of the heap gives off a sign of desperation on the part of the studio. Fingers are crossed that there will be enough time to make a quality product with a venerable director attached to the film. They did well with the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, so there's no reason to believe they have it in them to make a great Venom movie, maybe with Raimi directing?
Last week I wrote:
"The fact that R rated Marvel movies such as "Deadpool" and "Logan" did so well at the box-office has probably helped "Venom" get a quicker than expected release date. There is a large market out there for R rated Marvel films done with more creative freedom than the PG-13 juggernauts we're so tirelessly accustomed to getting. One thing's for sure though, "Venom" will be bloody violent. If you remember, Topher Grace played Venom in Spider-Man 3, although the actual symbiotic villain must have had, what, around 5 minutes of screentime?"
Marvel has dated the movie for October 5, 2018!
This is all Rothman’s idea, by the way. He’s going to pour millions into this campaign because he believes “Brand New Day” is a great movie.