Will “Blade” get canceled? That’s been the question on many people’s minds.
A few weeks back, there was a rumor, started by scooper Daniel Richtman, that Marvel head Kevin Feige would be making a final decision on the project in the coming weeks.
I’m now hearing there was never a plan to cancel “Blade.” The project “is still a major priority” for Marvel boss Kevin Feige. A tentative November 1st production start date has been set up many months ago. As of today, there’s still no indication they’ve canceled that date.
People seem to be under the assumption that there’s still no director attached to “Blade” — Yann Demange (“71”) recently exited the project. Two years ago, Bassam Tariq (“Mogul Mowgli”) had also called it quits. However, I’m told a handful of filmmakers very recently auditioned for the job, and that Marvel might already have their director.
A source tells me Jeymes Samuel met for the “Blade” directing job and impressed the Marvel brass. Samuel’s last film, this year’s revisionist religious epic “The Book of Clarence,” came and went. It was buried, by all accounts, buried by Sony. Samuel’s directorial debut was the star-studded Netflix Western, “The Harder They Fall.” Before that he was the musical artist known as The Bullitts.
An online rumor today, kickstarted because Mahershala Ali followed Jordan Peele’s account on Instagram, had some fans excited by a potential Peele-directed “Blade.” As far as I’ve been told, Peele was never part of any talks with Marvel to helm “Blade.”
More good news. It does look as though the latest “Blade” draft, written by Eric Pearson, might have finally satisfied everyone involved. Pearson is the sixth writer to have taken a crack at the script after Michael Green, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Michael Starrbury, Beau DeMayo and Nic Pizzolatto.
“Blade” was announced five years ago, at San Diego’s ComicCon, and has been plagued by an endless array of delays caused by COVID, strikes, casting and, most pertinently, scripting issues. The film was originally set in the 1920s, but will now take place in the present day.
Star Mahershala Ali, who will play the titular character, is said to have been “increasingly frustrated” by the whole process. Mia Goth is still attached to co-star as Lilith, a vampire seeking the blood of Blade’s daughter, but she’s had to contend with some of her fellow actors leaving the project, including Aaron Pierre and Delroy Lindo.
We’ll see if Marvel and company stick with the aforementioned November 1st date. If they do, then that means they are fast tracking this one since, as it stands, “Blade” is still on the Disney calendar, set for release on November 7, 2025.