A small update on Marvel’s big-screen adaptation of Brian K. Vaughn’s “The Runaways,” which has been called ” ‘The Breakfast Club’ with super heroes.”
It’s about a group of teenagers who discover that their parents are part of an evil crime group called the Pride.
And that adolescent bent is why Marvel Studios ultimately went with director Peter Sollet who has little to no CGI, action super hero experience, but directed the teenage-oriented pictures, “Raising Victor Vargas,” and “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” (we’re hoping for more of the former and less of the latter).
Anywho, last we heard the picture was set to shoot in January 2011, and according to a tweet from Production Weekly, it appears that production start date has been pushed back to March. No cause for alarm, start dates on films shift all the time, but to add some confusion to the mix, PWeekly calls the project, “Small Faces.”
This means one of two things, “Small Faces” is its production code name (sometimes film shoots do this to surreptitiously fly under the radar; “Inception” went under “Oliver’s Arrow” for example) or the film has changed its title. We assume it’s probably the former, but just an fyi.
“The Runaways” is an interesting project for several reasons. One, Sollet making his aforementioned leap to a much bigger canvas of filmmaking. Two, Joss Whedon was once involved, but Marvel obviously thought he would make a better choice for “The Avengers,” which he’ll direct early next year. And lastly, despite all the talk of 2nd and 3rd tier Marvel properties like “Dr. Strange,” “Iron Fist,” and “Power Pack” after projects like “Iron Man,” “Thor,” “Captain America” and “The Avengers,” “The Runaways” will actually be the first quote unquote “unknown” Marvel Studios film to hit the big screen. This is something the film industry insiders really need to watch, because its success or failure will clearly impact all the other lesser-known Marvel films the studio hopes to get off the ground. But with shooting in March of next year, the picture probably won’t arrive until sometime in 2012 and likely after “The Avengers” which is scheduled for May 4th of that year. Maybe at the end of the summer? Time will tell.
While Brian K. Vaughn did write a feature-length script at one point, Drew Pearce, the creator of British superhero sitcom “No Heroics,” ultimately landed the hotly contested writing job.
