'The Continental' director, Albert Hughes, explained why he turned down filming 'Blade' for Marvel Studios
Since Marvel Studios announced in 2019 that Vampire Hunter would officially become part of the Marvel world with Mahershala Ali playing the lead role, the Blade film has changed many directors.
Among them was Albert Hughes, the director of The Continental: From the World of John Wick, the first TV series in the action franchise's universe starring Keanu Reeves. However, the director ultimately dropped out of the Marvel collaboration, and recently explained why he made the decision.
Here's What We Know
In a conversation with Josh Horowitz on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, The Continental director explained his reasons for ultimately turning down the offer to direct Blade. Hughes cited the discomfort he felt from the total control, the systematic nature of superhero films and the lack of opportunity to do what he wanted.
"I've been in talks with the obvious studio about superhero movies a couple of times, but I always felt uncomfortable because I knew it was a system. And they're very nice, and I went through a long process. In fact, I broke down all their movies and put them in a spreadsheet and broke down the box office, watching the title scores, where the VFX ranks, I had to do a deep dive on them. And I got, halfway, not very close, halfway through the process, and I go, 'No, I would implode from the kind of controlled nature of that world and not being able to do what I do.' And I don't understand why a real filmmaker would want to be in that system. I understand why up-and-comers would, which they do a good job of. finding people at the right time. But I think I would implode."
The change in director isn't the only problem the film's relaunch has faced. Earlier, it was revealed that two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, who is set to play the lead role, was close to a decision to leave the project due to creative differences and this has caused a lot of delays in production.
When We Can Expect It
The Blade reboot has the daunting task of breaking the high bar set by Wesley Snipes' version. Whether it succeeds we'll find out on February 14, 2025 - a date the film is set to premiere on, for now, but that could be revised in the near future.
Source: MovieWeb
