The director behind the Blade movie, Yann Demange, provides damage control and confirms the film is moving forward with Mahershala Ali and confirms the flick will be R-rated.
The new info comes in the wake of that scathing Marvel article by Variety that offered Blade is worse than anyone thought or at least a previous version of the film. It’s also said a Marvel exec has been fired.
Variety said Blade has “gone through at least five writers, two directors and one shutdown six weeks before production,” said “the story at one point morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons,” said “Blade was relegated to the fourth lead,” and said that “Ali was ready to exit over script issues.”
Blade getting new blood
While promoting his new short film with Deadline, Yann Demange confirms when the strike ends he will revive Blade, and fitting with the popular Wesley Snipes movies, will be R-rated.
“They gave me the R, which is so important,” Demange said, adding, “I come out of this [short film] wanting to be more open, more vulnerable and bring a more personal aspect to my work.”
Demange continued, “But for Blade, we are going to have fun because Mahershala is such a deep actor. I’m excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness he has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that. He’s got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen.”
Kevin Feige ticked, fixing Blade
Scooper has also said what Variety reported about Marvel as well as Blade isn’t exactly true.
A screenwriter who worked on an earlier draft also pushed back on Variety‘s claims about the movie. However, there is no doubt Marvel has been having major problems as of late.
It’s also reported that Kevin Feige blew a gasket when he realized how bad the movie was going to be, fired an exec, reportedly ordered everything scrapped, and is starting over.
Rumors have also offered that Mahershala Ali, who first approached Feige to do the film, wasn’t happy and is also behind the new changes to fix the film.
The short of it seems to be in a movie titled “Blade,” it wasn’t going to be about Blade at all but again now supposedly they are fixing things.
The film has a February 14, 2025 release date. Mia Goth is also said to be starring in the movie.
