Today, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer has entered final negotiations to direct Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man (yet not Spider-Man: Homecoming) spin-off Venom. Fleischer has been in talks for many comic book properties over the years but now finally gets to direct one. This being a top priority for the studio to get off the ground as soon as possible. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing along with Amy Pascal.
The report also indicates that The Revenant star Tom Hardy has entered final talks to star as Eddie Brock aka Venom. Tom Hardy last comic book character he played was Bane in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. He was also in talks to star in both Suicide Squad as Rick Flagg and Doctor Strange. But dropped out to star in the Oscar-winning film The Revenant alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
We at Omega Underground learned a couple of months ago that production on Venom is expected to commence sometime this Fall in New York and Atlanta. Which lines up with the film now being slated for October 5th, 2018. The Halloween release of Venom also indicates that the film will be handled more as a horror film than a typical comic book movie.
Venom hits October 5th, 2018
Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony’s Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 – production starts this fall. pic.twitter.com/OZQqDEvoum
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) May 19, 2017