Whenever Andy Serkis’ name is mentioned, odds are his roles in either the Lord of the Rings or Planet of the Apes series will spring to mind. After all, there’s a reason people look at him as being the King of Mocap. Or, if you’re a Marvel fan, then you may associate him with Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther, two films in which he played Ulysses Klaue.
Well, if all goes well, Serkis may find himself working on yet another project related to the Marvel brand – but in a much different capacity. Believe it or not, Sony recently met with him to discuss directing Venom 2. I know, it wasn’t something I expected to read today, either, but The Hollywood Reporter says he’s in the mix, with Collider bringing word that Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Travis Knight (Bumblebee) have also been approached. If you didn’t figure it out by now, Ruben Fleischer isn’t coming back.
In case you weren’t aware, Serkis already has two movies to his credit as a director, those being Breathe and Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. Compound that with his proud history of acting in flicks heavy on visual effects and you have a guy who can really bring his expertise to something such as Venom 2.
Despite earlier reports of Sony saying they’re in no rush to make a sequel to the Tom Hardy-led picture from 2018, THR affirms the studio wants cameras to begin rolling this November. If that’s the case, then one would think a late 2020 or early 2021 release date is being eyed.
In my view, it’s really for the best that Sony get going on Venom 2 as soon as possible in order to capitalize on the success of the first film. Don’t forget, that one amassed $856 million at the worldwide box office, so I’m sure audiences will be hungry for more – and they don’t want to wait too long for another helping.