“Time is not on anyone’s side”… those were the words The A-Team director Joe Carnahan tweeted August 13th, 2012. At this point, 20th Century Fox is in a bind; the studio needs to put a Daredevil film in production by October. If not, the rights are handed back to Marvel. If this happens Fox will lose one of three Marvel superhero titles — the other two include X-men and Fantastic Four. And of course the studio wants to keep their precious money crops near.
The End of Fox’s Relationship with Daredevil…
Even Fox, known for their tight and often rushed production schedules, felt an acceptable script couldn’t be penned in time. This isn’t some last ditch effort. Fox has been planning Daredevil’s reboot for a while now. David Slade left the project several weeks ago to direct a TV pilot of Hannibal Lecter. That’s when Carnahan decided to give it a go. Here’s his tweet from two days ago:
The studio knows that at the rate superhero reboots are being fired out (Man of Steel, The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four), people’s patience with Hollywood and the superhero genre will eventually come to an end. They had one chance to get the reboot right. Screw it up, and they’d be forced to hand the rights back to Marvel. No one wants to see a franchise that fell on its ass twice to be rebooted a third time, by the same production company, in less than ten years.
Joe Carnahan’s Short Lived Effort Spawns Two Reels
Carnahan did something not expected of directors, but when there’s a time crunch you’ve got to adjust; the man put together and pitched, not one, but two versions of a Daredevil reel using pre-existing footage. Each represents Carnahan’s style and where he would’ve taken the characters if given the chance. It’s very ’70s with a hint of Frank Miller’s work. In fact, Carnahan explained to one fan where he found his inspiration for the reels:
Who knows… Marvel may have him direct their Daredevil film. The man definitely knows his stuff. It’s not everyday you get to see a director’s material from his pitch, so take a look below:
PG-13
NC-17
The Future of Daredevil and Elektra
At this point the future of Daredevil is anyone’s game. Marvel could create a brand new franchise or they could start a television series. What ever happens, you can bet several people at Marvel already have ideas and storyboards ready for the Daredevil’s next chapter. There’s a lot that you can do with the material, a lot of characters that can be introduced to the silver screen. Did you know Marvel had the opportunity to extend their partnership with Fox for ‘Daredevil’? They would come on-board as co-financier… but of course Marvel turned the deal down. Smart move, Marvel. We’ll see you on the other side, Daredevil.
