Marvel's Blade hits another delay amid writers' strike
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The Hollywood writers' strike has sucked the life out of Blade's filming plans.
Pre-production on Marvel's vampire superhero movie has been put on hold amid the work stoppage, EW has confirmed. The studio had recently tapped True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto to work on the Blade script, which was originally penned by Michael Starrbury, and filming was slated to start next month in Atlanta. But a person familiar with the situation said that time "ran out," and work on the vampire thriller will resume after the strike.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, the cast and crew were being notified of the shutdown Friday. The move is the first such pause for a tentpole film in this strike, which began earlier this week when the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America failed to reach an agreement and the deadline for a new contract passed.
Amy Sussman/Getty Mahershala Ali
This isn't the first time that Blade — which is set to star Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as the half-vampiric vampire hunter — has encountered a delay. In October, Disney postponed the film from a planned 2023 release to one in 2024 when director Bassam Tariq left the project just two months before filming was set to begin. Yann Demange took over helming duties in November.
Not much is known about the film yet, but it does have a key vote of confidence: Wesley Snipes, who starred in three Blade movies from 1998 to 2004, has said he's "good" with Ali taking over the role he originated. The new movie is also set to star Aaron Pierre, Delroy Lindo, and Mia Goth.
Blade was most recently slated to hit theaters Sept. 6, 2024, but it remains to be seen whether and how the strike might affect those plans.
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