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At last year's Comic-Con, Marvel Studios announced that they had brought Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, "back under the roof" of the entertainment studio, and this year they have re-obtained the rights to Blade, the half-human, half-vampire character that originally appeared in Marvel Comics' The Tomb of Dracula #10 in July of 1973. The announcement came during a panel discussion with Marvel Studios' COO, and former Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, who revealed that "some kind of movement on bigger media projects" featuring Blade and the Punisher can be expected in the future, but not anytime soon. For now, Comic Book Resources reports, Quesada says Marvel Studios is concentrating on their "icon" characters and will later bring in more ethnically diverse characters.
"One of the things we have to deal with first are the icons. If we don't do those first, other characters regardless of race or ethnicity, will fail," said Quesada. Current Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso added: "I dream of the day that there will be a Luke Cage movie."
more about a possible Blade 4 >> Posted 07.25.11 by Ryan -
The recent news that actor Wesley Snipes would be willing to reprise the role of the "day walking" vampire-hunter, Blade, in a sequel to Blade: Trinity was surprising, to say the least. Snipes sued New Line Cinema and writer-director David S. Goyer over Trinity and has been outspoken about the "systematic racism" that he says unfairly blames him for the failure of the movie.
We're conditioned in this country to believe that if there's a problem, the black man is usually the culprit.
In a recent interview in support of his new movie, Brooklyn's Finest, Snipes' first theatrical release after seven direct-to-DVD efforts, he told MTV that he was "really surprised" by the continued interest in him reprising his Blade role, and said, "If we do another one, it will reflect our maturity and our better understanding of the genre." Snipes said he would want to see "a larger, multiracial cast" in Blade 4 and hopefully "have some rehearsals before some of the action sequences."
Posted 03.05.10 by BrentJS -
Just when it seemed like there was no possible hope of ever seeing actor Wesley Snipes pick up the silver stakes and don the trademark leather trench coat and sunglasses of the "Daywalker" in another Blade movie, AITH reports that Snipes has admitted that there has been some talk about a Blade 4 and that he would reprise the role if the right script came along.
Many factors seemed to conspire against the continuation of the Blade series. The failure of Blade: Trinity to match the success of the previous movies in the series was one nail in the coffin (vampire pun intended) of the franchise. The second nail was driven home when Snipes filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against New Line Cinema, writer-director David S. Goyer and the producers of Blade: Trinity for denying him creative decisions as producer, limiting his screen time, and failure to pay him adequately. The third and final nail was the volatile interview that Snipes gave in 2007 in which he alleged that the root of the problems surrounding Blade: Trinity's lackluster performance were far deeper and more nefarious than creative or financial squabbles.
Systematic racism was used to divert focus away from the real issues of an incompetent director and inexperienced producers with a $60 million budget, and onto the "insubordinate, difficult, self-immersed actor."
The Blade character managed to fight on after Snipes in the form of Blade: The Series, with actor-rapper Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones in the lead, but it just wasn't the same without him and the show was cancelled after only one season on Spike TV. The last attempt to mine the Blade gold mine was a planned trilogy of movies based on Stephen Dorff's Deacon Frost character from the first Blade, but the spin-off never materialized.
Considering all of these setbacks, Snipes' return to the role could be just what the franchise needs to continue. And, given the current infatuation with vampires in Hollywood right now, Blade should feel right at home.
Posted 02.23.10 by BrentJS