To nobody’s shock, Ruben Fleischer ain’t welcomed back as director of Venom 2. Sony’s anti-hero flick may have surprised everyone with an $800M box office but any praise it received wasn’t for having slick, competent direction, but for Tom Hardy’s bonkers performance. So now three names have emerged as contenders to replace him, and all come with heavy amount of VFX and franchise experience.
According to THR, Andy Serkis is in the mix to direct Hardy in a Venom sequel, while Variety throws Travis Knight and Rupert Wyatt in there, as well. Serkis is mainly known for his grounbreaking motion-capture performances in Lord of the Rings and the Planet of the Apes movies, but his directorial career has really taken off with films such as Breathe and Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. Wyatt was the guy who directed Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and most recently helmed sci-fi film Captive State. Knight is the head guy at stop-motion animation studio Laika, who recently made the successful jump to blockbusters with Bumblebee.
Serkis worked alongside Woody Harrelson in War for the Planet of the Apes, and may have an edge. Venom ended with a Harrelson cameo as an imprisoned Cletus Kasady, the serial killer who becomes the symbiote Carnage.
Venom 2 has a script by Kelly Marcel, who co-wrote the first movie but is flying solo on this one, and should hit theaters in October 2020.
