Marvel Studios’ ‘Shang-Chi’ film just found its director: Destin Daniel Cretton. He is the first Asian director in the franchise, who is also helming the first movie about an Asian protagonist.
Cretton is famous for his film ‘Short Term 12,’ starring Brie Larson and Lakeith Stanfield. He then went on to direct ‘The Glass Castle,’ also with Brie Larson. Next up for him is Warner Bros. ‘Just Mercy,’ releasing January 17, 2020, starring Michael B. Jordan and (surprise) Brie Larson.
The screenplay is from Dave Callaham, who has become a sought out writer as of late. He wrote initial drafts of ‘Zombieland 2,’ and was the creator, writer and producer of Amazon’s ‘Jean-Claude Van Johnson.’ Callaham also wrote the first film in the ‘Expendables’ franchise, as well as the story for Legendary’s ‘Godzilla’ reboot. He recently co-wrote (with Patty Jenkins and Geoff Johns) the upcoming sequel ‘Wonder Woman 1984.’ Right now, he is writing another sequel, Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2.’
Marvel Studios is planning on assembling a largely Asian-American and Asian cast for the film.
The basic idea of Shang-Chi’s character:
“Shang-Chi was trained as a martial artist assassin by his father, the infamous pulp villain Fu Manchu, but later became a hero after rebelling against his dad.”
Other filmmakers who were in the running were Justin Tipping (‘Dear White People,’ ‘The Chi’), Alan Yang (‘Master of None,’ Tigertail’) and Deborah Chow (‘Jessica Jones, ‘The Mandalorian’).
‘Shang-Chi’ does not have a release date yet. However, it could very well land on the already taken Disney/Marvel Studios slot of November 5, 2021.
Source: Deadline