Venom

Genre: Action/Comic Book Adaptation.

Studio: New Line Cinema.
Production Company: Unknown.

Project Phase: Development Hell.

Who's In It: Unknown.
Who's Making It: David Goyer (Screenwriter); John Langley, Stephen Chao (Producers); based upon the Marvel Comics character Venom.

Premise: Unknown. See Comments.

Release Date: Unknown.

Comments:

While we haven't a clue how Goyer pulls this baby off without mentioning anything remotely connected to Spider-Man (film rights are owned by MGM, and thus a seperate property that cannot be used in the New Line production), Venom is (in the comic books, at least) Spider-Man's arch-nemesis. An alien symbiote grafted itself onto criminal Eddie Brock, transforming him into a superpowered being that emulates the design of Spidey's costume, expect in a black motif. Brock/Venom also has the ability to morph his body's features into outlandish and terrifying displays, as well as possessing all of Spider-Man's superhuman abilities.

So, how do you do a Venom movie without incorporating the Spider-Man origin in? Apparently Goyer did; we'd love to see the script.

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

[Page webbed up by 'Deadpool'.]

July, 1997 - January, 1998... Rumor is the script focuses on Venom's origin in San Francisco, and features another alien symbiote called Carnage who is the film's central villain. [Rumors dropped off by 'jarls', 'Widgett', 'xmg37', 'pickle', Yves Sakai, and anonymously.]

January 27, 1998... The fellow who gave us our first scoop for this project all those many months ago has come back with more. Now that CA sports its own Venom page, 'jarls' wanted to share some info about the fine-tuning the project is receiving at New Line...and how it's just ever-so-possible Eddie Brock and his symbiote may be allowed to 'exist' within MGM's Spider-Man film universe. Let's hear what 'jarls' has to say...

"1) The screenplay is still being fine-tuned by Goyer, and the project has yet to receive an official greenlight. As you already know, New Line Cinema will produce it, and the legal issue was really resolved before it ever even came up: extraneous characters were never part of the whole Spider-Man lawsuit. Of course, you guys already know that, but the real scoop is that New Line is currently working out a deal with MGM that will allow them to specifically mention, but NOT SHOW IN ANY FORM OR DEPICTED VISUALLY IN ANY WAY, Spider-Man. Whether New Line will give MGM a payment up front or a piece of the film's gross is unknown at this time. This is interesting because Goyer's original treatment contained NO MENTION of Spider-Man, at all. The symbiote, in the early screenplay draft, basically was described as having simply fallen to earth in a meteor, and crawling into a church where Eddie was to commit suicide. You know the rest. Needless to say, it's good that such an agreement is being worked out, because the whole Meteor Symbiote deal would be ridiculed by comic fans, and not taken seriously by audiences. By the way, I know that this MGM-New Line Deal must sound hard to swallow, but hey: I bet you never thought Freddy would fight Jason, either.

"2) Actors being considered are: Jean Claude Van-Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and a few unknowns. Arnold Schwarzenegger was never actually considered, as his price tag would have been far too steep for this modestly budgeted film. (The movie, as I said above, has yet to receive an official greenlight, but I've heard that once it does, the budget is not to exceed $60 mil.)

"3) The film WILL take place in San Francisco, but won't deal too extensively with the origins of Venom, a.k.a Eddie Brock. To do so will require too much Spider-Man, basically, and with its own seperate Spider-Man movie being rumored, MGM obviously wouldn't like this too much.

"That's all for now. Hope you guys find this info useful!" It sure is. Now all we need is a copy of Goyer's re-vamped script and we'd be swingin' with glee. [Mondo scoop handed in by 'jarls'.]

February 10, 1998... Thanks to 'cgreer', we've got a little bit more news about the status of the Venom project, this time direct from screenwriter David Goyer's own keyboard. Here's what the writer told our scooper in an email:

"While I'm happy that fans are interested, I'm sorry to say that the chances of a Venom movie being made in this incarnation are looking pretty slim. For what it's worth. the script is currently in limbo. The story never involved Spiderman, since that was obviously a thorny legal issue. In addition to Venom and Carnage, the script also involved Cletus Kasady's prison psychologist Dr. Kafka, as well as Truman Marsh, leader of the Government facility known as the Vault. On a happier note, however, Blade (which I also wrote the script for) is moving along nicely. The fx test sequences I've seen are great and the rough cut of the film was fantastic."

It's not lookin' too good for the fans right now... [Thanks to 'cgreer' for forwarding us his letter!]



Have a Scoop/Information about a New Film Project? Copyrights and trademarks for the film and related entertainment properties mentioned herein are held by their respective owners and are used with permission or solely for the promotional purposes of said properties.
All other text and images copyright © 1995-98 Corona Productions.
Last updated: Sunday, 12-Jul-1998 18:07:19 PDT.
webmaster@corona.bc.ca