With the recent trailer for James Gunn’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy” and the forthcoming Edgar Wright-helmed “Ant-Man,” it’s clear Marvel Studios is pulling from the deep bench now and while it remains to be seen how the casual moviegoing audience is going to respond to a gun-toting talking raccoon in space, the comics giant-turned-movie company is only focused on getting more strange.
THR is reporting that the long-discussed “Doctor Strange” movie is inching closer to reality with Marvel already looking at a few possible candidates to sit in the director’s chair. So, who’s up? Well, it’s an eclectic list that includes “Brave” co-writer and co-director Mark Andrews, “A Royal Affair” director Nikolaj Arcel, Dean Israelite of the upcoming Michael Bay-produced time-travel found-footage film “Welcome to Yesterday,” and “50/50” director Jonathan Levine.
It must also be noted that the studio’s “looking to hire both a writer and a filmmaker to work in tandem, or a filmmaker who can do both tasks” which seems to tip Andrews into the lead especially since “Kung Fu Panda” writers Jon Aibel and Glenn Berger are being eyed to write the screenplay (and we suppose that means the draft from a few years ago by Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer is getting tossed or rewritten). There’s also Levine, who is no slouch at writing screenplays.
If you’re unfamiliar with who Strange is, the gist is that he’s a self-centered New York surgeon who can no longer practice after a car accident. He becomes a drifter, finds his way to a healer in the Himalayas, and learns to tap into psychic powers to battle evil wizards and other rad stuff. As for who will play the part, it’s likely still a long way off from being cast, but that won’t stop the rumor patrol with Bleeding Cool claiming that Mads Mikkelsen “is, or has been, somewhere in the mix for the film’s early casting discussions.”
Don’t get too excited though, this one’s still several years away with plenty of other Marvel movies scheduled before then. In the meantime let us know who should get the job or who your dream director for “Doctor Strange” would be.
