Andy Serkis is officially directingVenom 2. Rumors started to spread at the end of July after Serkis took some meetings with Sony about potentially taking on the sequel. Now, it looks like they liked what he had to say. This is a big gig for Serkis who is better-known for his motion capture and acting roles from over the years. However, Serkis has a lot of experience working behind the camera and got his start with Peter Jackson while working onThe Hobbittrilogy as a second unit director.
2018’sVenomwas a huge and unexpected box office success, taking in over $856 million at the global box office. The movie was a major hit in China like a lot of comic book movies have been lately. Tom Hardy is back as Eddie Brock forVenom 2, which will reportedly begin shooting around November of this year. The studio is anxious to get moving on the project, which will more than likely have a lot of work to be done in the post-production phase like the first installment. HavingAndy Serkison board as directer will certainly provide Hardy with some extra pointers about playing a mostly CGI character.
Andy Serkis is pretty much thegodfather of motion capturework after rising to fame as Gollum fromThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy. As for directing,Venom 2will be the third full-length project for Serkis, following 2017’sBreatheand 2018’sMowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which ended up premiering on Netflix. As an actor, Serkis worked with Marvel onBlack Pantherand this upcoming sequel may have the potential to possibly crossover like theSpider-Manfranchise, bringing Serkis back to work with Marvel Studios. That’s just speculation at this point, but fans would love to see Tom Holland and Tom Hardy together.
Kelly Marcel returned to write the scriptforVenom 2, but Ruben Fleischer, who helmed the first installment, is sitting this one out. The first movie ended with a brief cameo from Woody Harrelson who was playing Cletus Kasaday, aka Carnage. Andy Serkis previously worked with Harrelson onWar For the Planet of the Apes, so there will be a bit of a reunion on the set for the two actors. Sony is keeping story details about the sequel under wraps for the time being, but we should get some more information in the coming months as production prepares to start.
Venom 2is all set tohit theaters on October 2nd, 2020. This is going to be a huge project for Andy Serkis and it will more than likely end up with some big directing gigs down the line if all goes well. Let’s just hope he doesn’t forget about his groundbreaking motion capture and acting work in the meantime.The Hollywood Reporterwas the first to announce the Andy Serkis andVenom 2news.
