Marvel Moving Forward with Doctor Strange
Posted 08.02.11 by Ryan
Last June, Marvel Studios hired Conan: The Barbarian reboot screenwriters Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to write a script for a potential Doctor Strange movie. While not the most well-known character in Marvel's canon, the move was an attempt to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and one that was approved by the character's creator, Stan Lee.
While Oppenheimer and Donnelly obviously have experience working with supernatural and fantasy comic book characters after working on Conan and Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, their script was apparently good enough for Marvel to move forward. Twitch Film reports that Marvel has received the Doctor Strange script and are putting together a shortlist of directors in order to find someone to "oversee continued development".
While the Twitch report remains unconfirmed, it did get us thinking about which directors could end up on Marvel's shortlist. Director Francis Lawrence is no stranger to comic book adaptations that include the magic and sorcery, even if his 2005 adaptation of Constantine opened to mixed results amongst audiences. It doesn't appear that Warner Bros. will bring back director Martin Campbell for Green Lantern 2, leaving the Casino Royale director available, but, considering the poor box office results for Green Lantern, perhaps Marvel will look elsewhere.
Another pie-in-the-sky candidate, if he's available, is Sam Raimi, who is no longer tied to the Spider-Man franchise and could be looking to get back into the comic book movie business. The combination of Raimi's signature visual style, combined with his proven success with comic book characters, would make him ideal for Dr. Strange.
Whomever Marvel chooses, they have time. Any potential Dr. Strange movie won't reach theaters until at least 2014, as 2013 will already see the releases of Thor 2 and Iron Man 3. Then there's the possible sequels of Captain America 2 and, should The Avengers prove successful at the box office next summer, an Avengers 2. Marvel also has an Ant-Man adaptation in the works, with a new script from writer-directors Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish turned in last month.