SDCC 2012: More Movie News for FANTASTIC FOUR, DAREDEVIL and Archaia’s RUST

We reported last night on two fascinating page-to-screen adaptations in the works, but Joe Golem and My Friend Dahmer are hardly the only comic book movies causing a stir in San Diego this year. While not actually making the rounds on the convention floor, 20th Century Fox has revealed new details related to three high profile projects, timed with the start of Hollywood’s favorite con. Here’s the latest from the good folks at Deadline.

Joe Cornish is ready for the oxidation process.

First up, big news for Archaia Entertainment. Last November, Josh named Royden Lepp’s Rust: Visitor in the Fields our Book of the Month. Now it’s a major motion picture set to be directed by Joe Cornish. With a screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna, Rust centers on a rustic American farm community interacting with some very unusual machinery. We’re not talking new-fangled tractors, but the mechanical veterans of a robot war. While the setting is far removed from the English estate housing of Cornish’s Attack the Block, it’s another fascinating pairing of modest homestead and far-out science fiction. It’s also not Cornish’s first outing in the comic book realm; he collaborated on last year’s The Adventures of Tintin screenplay. Suffice to say, we’re pretty stoked to see this one.

David Slade says peace out to Daredevil. Josh Trank heads to the Baxter building.

Now to Fox’s mad dash to retain the rights for some valuable Marvel properties. Intent on keeping Fantastic Four and Daredevil franchises from reverting to Marvel Studios and Disney holdings, they’re eager to get new films into production.

Due to scheduling conflicts, David Slade has dropped out of the Daredevil reboot, so the hunt is on for a new director to get this thing in motion by the Fall. Script is all ready to go.

On a brighter note, Fox is announcing that Chronicle director Josh Trank, a hot commodity in Hollywood these days, will take on the Fantastic Four reboot. Look for that one shortly after the new X-Men: First Class and Wolverine sequels currently in the works for swift productions.

 

Comments

  1. Not to wish bad, but I hope they can’t get their ducks in a row in time and DD & FF revert back to Marvel/Disney.

    I wanna see Reed Richards at least cameo in an Avengers-related movie. Imagine Tony Stark in an upcoming Iron Man movie consulting with Bruce Banner and… Reed Richards on a science-based problem. Or the Thing making an appearance in a Hulk movie. Or (better yet) a poker game with Nick Fury, Steve Rogers, Black Widow, and Ben Grim around the table.

    I would love this.

  2. What is the law around how quickly/often they need to get movies out there before rights would revert to Marvel?

    • I don’t believe there is any law, it’s all just terms of the contracts between the two companies. Depending on what they agreed to, the rights to make those films could always stay with Fox if Fox keeps making the movies every few years, they could revert back to Marvel/Disney no matter what in 20 years, or Marvel/Disney could have a chance to buy back the rights at some point, or for a certain amount at any point (though you’d think they would have done that already if they could, especially for Spidey/Wolverine in an Avengers sequel).

    • i don’t think its a legal issue…more of a contractual one with the licensing.

  3. That would assume that Fox would be willing to sell.

  4. fox should cut a deal with marvel, wherein they let marvel make the movies, but still get money of the properties they own? but saying that, they have upped their game a bit, i enjoyed x-men: first class and the amazing spiderman?

    nice to see joe cornish adapting a comic book, he’s a incredible talent! marvel needs to get a move on and make something of his ant-man screenplay!

  5. i picked up rust at c2e2 this year and i think i saw the film adaptation coming from almost the first page in. that book is fucking cinematic. so, yeah, i’m pleased with this development.

  6. Avatar photo Mickey">Mickey (@GeeksOfChrist) says:

    2 things:

    When will Adam Strange get a movie?
    He’s the original(ish) rocket pack hero.

    Fantastic Four 94 rocks.

  7. Three things:

    1) I doubt the public knows (or cares) if Fantastic Four comes out from Fox or Disney.
    2) Fox’s interest in keeping the movie rights isn’t only to keep said rights away from Disney. If Fox releases a successful Spider-Man movie it help other non comic book movies they own. Kind of like how Dark Horse making Aliens & Predator comics back in 90s helped their creator-owned titles.
    3) Is there any reason why Fox couldn’t make a Fantastic Four movie with a Spider-Man or Daredevil cameo?

  8. I’m happy for Royden. He announced the Rust movie on the podcast I did with him. He’s very excited and I’m hoping this will mean more great things for him as he gets his comic sequels rolling out in the coming months.

  9. Wasn’t Trank suppose to be directing the New Venom movie for Sony too?

  10. I know it’s all contracts and licensing but…

    With Disney now making buttloads of cash because of Avengers. Couldn’t they just pay all of these studios to get the rights back for Spider-Man, X-Men, and FF? Screw Punisher, Ghost Rider, and others cause quite frankly you can’t make good movies out of them at this point. But the rest? They need to be in the Avengers universe. ESPECIALLY if they are going to go to the cosmic level soon.

  11. Very cool to hear we have a new Daredevil film on the horizon soon. Pretty much, ha well, it’s nice to see him get another chance after that last one. Plus Daredevil is the Batman of Marvel if you ask me.

  12. They need Guillermo Del Toro to direct Dare Devil.

  13. Are there details regarding whether Rust will be animated, CGI, or live action? I usually roll my eyes at another CGI flick, but I think in this case it would fit the art style really well.

  14. David Slade is clearly flicking the V’s in that photo!

  15. What happened to Cornballs directing Snow Crash?