After making their directorial debuts last year with the beloved action-thrillerJohn Wick, directorsChad StahelskiandDavid Leitchhave found themselves in high demand.The directors signed on forUniversal’sCowboy Ninja Vikingin January and they are also being sought by Warner Bros. for a DC Comics adaptation, which is rumored to beAquaman. Today we have a new report from Heat Vision Blog, which reports that the filmmakers have signed to directBloodshot, an adaptation of the Variant Comics title for Sony Pictures.
Bloodshotis being eyed for a 2017 release, so it seems this could beChad StahelskiandDavid Leitch’s next project. The directors will work from a script co-written byJeff Wadlow(Kick-Ass 2) andEric Heisserer(The Thingremake), withMatthew VaughnandJason Kothariserving as executive producers.Bloodshotwas created by Kevin VanHook,Don Perlinand Bob Layton, centering on a deceased soldier who is brought back to life by a secret government agency, where he is turned into an unstoppable killing machine with no memory.
Sony is also developing another Valiant property entitledHarbinger. These movies are part of a five-picture deal Valiant has signed with Sony Pictures, with bothBloodshotandHarbingergetting two movies apiece, before both properties will merge in Harbinger Wars, inspired by the 2013 crossover comic book series of the same name.Harbingerwas created by Jim Shooter andDavid Lapham, and is described as a “next-generation X-Men-esque storyline” that follows a group of individuals with incredible powers who go on the run from theHarbingerFoundation, which is run by a shady philanthropist named Toyo Harada.Eric Heissererwill write theHarbingerscript by himself, although the director is being kept under wraps for now.
BothBloodshotandHarbingerwere among the first properties to be revived during Valiant’s re-launch in 2012. All five movies in theHarbinger Warsfranchise will be produced by Valiant’sDinesh Shamdasani, along with Original Film’sNeal H. MoritzandToby Jaffe. Valiant received funding in March from DMG Entertainment to develop movie and TV adaptations based on their comic books. While it isn’t known which of these two properties will hit the big screen first, the first movie will hit theaters sometime in 2017.
