Beloved genre filmmaker Sam Raimi (“Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness”) is back with his latest project, “Send Help,” and during a recent chat with MovieWeb, has revealed there is active development on a brand new “Darkman” movie that is in the works at his production banner Ghost House Pictures, with two unnamed directors attached. However, they’re having financing issues, which would obviously cause problems getting it ready enough to be thrust into production.
“Yes, Ghost House Pictures, the company I work with, is trying to make the sequel right now. We’ve got a screenplay and two great directors, but we’re still having a little difficulty with the financing. It’s always the same in the movie business,” Raimi said of the current status of the project after telling The Wrap that Universal Pictures had interest in a new movie back in 2022.
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The original movie from 1990 starred future Oscar winners Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand, focused on a scientist, Peyton Westlake, who was horribly burned/disfigured by gangsters and now has the ability to mimic the faces/voices/mannerisms of other people to exact revenge and is incapable of feeling physical pain (sort of a superhero take on the Phantom of the Opera, but also mixing horror and satirical comedic elements).
Speaking of Neeson, during an interview with ComicBook to promote his action film “Memory,” the veteran actor expressed an interest in returning to the Darkman role for a legacy sequel and reading a script. “That’s a good question. I would be very interested in reading the script. Very,” Neeson said of reprising the part back in 2022.
“Darkman” had come together after Raimi wasn’t able to get films based on pulp heroes Batman (pre-Tim Burton) and The Shadow off the ground, so he decided to craft an original superhero film before eventually getting his hands on Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man (Raimi recently dismissing talk of reviving “Spider-Man 4” at Sony Pictures) and Doctor Strange.
While it never got a traditional theatrical follow-up from Raimi, there was a never-aired TV pilot in 1992 at Fox alongside direct-to-video “sequels” with Arnold Vosloo (“The Mummy”) replacing Neeson in “Darkman II: The Return of Durant” and “Darkman III: Die Darkman Die.”
We’ll have to be patient to learn who those new “Darkman” directors are and if Neeson ultimately returns to the role. Until then, Raimi’s latest pic, “Send Help,” starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, arrives in theaters this Friday, January 30.
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