With “Spider-Man: Far From Home” crossing the $1 billion worldwide box-office milestone, Sony is now looking to get the “Venom” sequel off the ground and executives recently met with a handful of new directing candidates.
Sources tell Variety that Andy Serkis, “Bumblebee” director Travis Knight and Rupert Wyatt are among the directors meeting for the coveted job on the film that has Tom Hardy set to return in the title role. Insiders say these are just meetings and no one has moved into a front-runner position.
Ruben Fleischer directed the first pic in 2018, but is not returning as he is in post-production on “Zombieland: Double Tap.”
Sony hopes to shoot the film in the fall.
“Venom,” from Sony Pictures’ arsenal of Marvel characters, grossed a massive $855 million worldwide. The news comes after the studio recently dated an untitled Marvel sequel for October 2020. Comic-book enthusiasts put the pieces together to assume that slot was for “Venom 2,” giving it the same release date as its predecessor.
The next film in this universe is “Morbius,” starring Jared Leto, which is set to bow next summer.
Kelly Marcel wrote the script for the sequel. Serkis previously directed “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” and “Breathe.” Wyatt directed “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and more recently, “Captive State.”
The first “Venom” also starred Michelle Williams and featured a last-minute cameo by Woody Harrelson as chief Venom villain Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage.
Sony had no comment.