I wrote last month that “Blade” was getting another rewrite, but we weren’t entirely sure if a new writer would be hired or if Nic Pizzolatto would remain for this latest overhaul.
It turns out that Pizzolatto is out and has been replaced by Michael Green, the writer of “Logan.” Hopefully, Green gets it right this time, he’s now the sixth writer hired by Marvel boss Kevin Feige to pen the “Blade” reboot.
According to a report from Variety, “Blade” star Mahershala Ali was ready to exit the film over these script issues. In one of the versions of the script, Blade was reportedly relegated to the fourth lead of the movie, and Ali was obviously not going to take part in that.
However, Feige’s hiring of Green has made the film finally move forward, we think, and, since the last few MCU movies have had ridiculously inflated budgets, it’ll be shot with a budget of less than $100M.
This project goes back almost five years. Back in 2019, at San Diego’s ComicCon, Marvel had announced Ali as the next Blade. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after that and the film’s development took a few steps back.
Back in April, “True Detective” creator/writer Nic Pizzolatto was tapped to pen the latest round of rewrites. This was the fifth writer to officially take on the “Blade” reboot after Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Michael Starrbury and Beau DeMayo took a crack at the script. Would Pizzolatto be the final one? It appears not. Enter, Green.
A few months ago, French filmmaker Yann Demange (“71,” “White Boy Rick”) was hired to replace Bassam Tariq as ‘Blade’ director. Mia Goth was also added to the cast alongside Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre. On-paper, the project sounds like one of the more interesting MCU films in recent years.
Marvel’s “Blade” was actually supposed to shoot this past May, but, while in deep pre-production mode, it was suddenly shut down. Marvel planned to resume work on the project once the SAG-AFTRA strike concluded. They’ve done that by calling for more rewrites.
The film’s intended release date also keeps changing. “Blade” was originally supposed to come out in November 2023, then it got delayed to September 2024 and now the official date seems to be February 14th, 2025. Who wants to bet this one doesn’t stick either?