If you were a kid of the 90’s, then you may remember the comic book series ‘Bloodshot’ which was a flagship for the Valiant Comics publishing company. Although, the company has not published comic books in a while, many remember this character and it seems like Sony has decided to bring this protagonist to the big screen.
According to Deadline, Jeff Wadlow (‘Cry Wolf’, ‘Never Back Down’) loved the ‘Bloodshot’ comics and made an agreement with Valiant and the Original Film production company to write a spec script. (For those who don’t know, a spec script, aka speculative screenplay, is an informal script that was not commissioned from any studio or producer and written by someone on their own in hopes that a studio, producer or production company will buy it.) Apparently, Sony loved what Wadlow had written and has paid “$450,000 against $1million” for it. Neal Moritz (‘Total Recall’, ‘Battle Los Angeles’, ‘I am Legend’) will produce under his Original Film company along with Jason Kothari and Dinesh Shamdasani for Valiant Entertainment. Wadlow will write the screenplay.
The announcement was made today by Hannah Minghella, president of production for Columbia Pictures which is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. “The Bloodshot character has been a fan favorite for nearly two decades,” Minghella said. “Neal is one of the best action producers working today and we know he is the right filmmaker to take on this potential franchise.”
‘Bloodshot’ first appeared in the Valiant comic books in 1992 and has appeared in over 70 issues. The series has sold over 7 million comic books globally and was a cornerstone of the Valiant Universe which sold more than 80 million comic books and at one time was considered third only to Marvel and DC Comics. In the mid 1990’s Valiant was sold to Acclaim Entertainment who decided to discontinue publishing the comic books. In 2007, Kothari and Shamdasani acquired the rights to the Valiant Comics vault and will be re-launching the Valiant Comics universe in May of this year.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the ‘Bloodshot’ series, it’s about a man named Angelo Mortalli who was a ruthless killer for the mob. When he was framed for a murder by them, he goes into Witness Protection but is betrayed by the FBI agent that was assigned to guard him. Mortalli was kidnapped and forcibly subjected to an experimental program where he is injected with nanites. They rebuild his body, erase his memories and reprogram him to become a human weapon with superhuman strength and healing powers. Bloodshot escapes his makers and goes out into the world trying to figure out who he is and goes after those who betrayed him.
Right now, there is no director attached to the project (although at one time it was rumored Matthew Vaughn was to direct but it was just a rumor.) Since this film is in the early stages of development, no other news regarding release date or casting has been made.
If you’re a ‘Bloodshot’ fan, who would you like to see direct the film and cast in the lead role?
