erinmoran
04-23-2002, 05:00 AM
NEW YORK (Variety) - Marvel Enterprises, the comic book giant on a roll in Hollywood with the recent "Blade" sequel and the upcoming "Spider-Man" film, hopes to turn "The Punisher" into its latest feature franchise.
The property was made into a low-budget Australian offering starring Dolph Lundgren in 1990, but that production will have no bearing on the film that Marvel is gearing up to make with indie studio Artisan Entertainment.
The protagonist of "The Punisher" doesn't possess superpowers, but his obsession with avenging the murder of his family after they witness a gangland killing leads him on a vigilante course. Ex-soldier Frank Castle becomes a one-man assault team against the crime syndicate that killed his family.
Marvel and Artisan have set Jonathan Hensleigh to write and make his directorial debut on the project. His many credits include "Jumanji," "Die Hard: With a Vengeance" and "The Saint," and he's executive produced "Gone in Sixty Seconds," "Armageddon" and "Con Air."
"The Punisher" will be made under the joint venture agreement made two years ago between Artisan CEO Amir Malin and Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad in which they pacted to turn 15 Marvel franchises into features or TV series.
"The Punisher is one of the biggest and most important characters in the Marvel universe," Arad said. "When Amir and I signed the deal between Marvel and Artisan, the Punisher was one of the marquee properties that we both felt needed to be given a strong theatrical presence. Bringing Jonathan on board is a major step in bringing our vision to fruition."
Artisan has a wealth of Marvel characters at its disposal, including such old favorites as Captain America and Thor.
Marvel's sure to get a boost from the Sony release of "Spider-Man" on May 3. And the big-ticket films keep coming after that. Fox's sequel to "X-Men" will be a summer 2003 event film, as will "The Hulk." A successful sequel to "Blade" already has New Line at work on a third entry of the Wesley Snipes starrer. And Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner ("Alias") and Michael Clarke Duncan will star in "Daredevil," being directed by Mark Steven Johnson for January release via Fox.
Also building momentum is an adaptation of "Ghost Rider," which still looms as a vehicle for Nicolas Cage once Marvel Studios sets it up again after getting rights back from Dimension Films.
<img src="http://members.aol.com/erinmoran01/images/bobafez.jpg"" height=100 width=300>
The property was made into a low-budget Australian offering starring Dolph Lundgren in 1990, but that production will have no bearing on the film that Marvel is gearing up to make with indie studio Artisan Entertainment.
The protagonist of "The Punisher" doesn't possess superpowers, but his obsession with avenging the murder of his family after they witness a gangland killing leads him on a vigilante course. Ex-soldier Frank Castle becomes a one-man assault team against the crime syndicate that killed his family.
Marvel and Artisan have set Jonathan Hensleigh to write and make his directorial debut on the project. His many credits include "Jumanji," "Die Hard: With a Vengeance" and "The Saint," and he's executive produced "Gone in Sixty Seconds," "Armageddon" and "Con Air."
"The Punisher" will be made under the joint venture agreement made two years ago between Artisan CEO Amir Malin and Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad in which they pacted to turn 15 Marvel franchises into features or TV series.
"The Punisher is one of the biggest and most important characters in the Marvel universe," Arad said. "When Amir and I signed the deal between Marvel and Artisan, the Punisher was one of the marquee properties that we both felt needed to be given a strong theatrical presence. Bringing Jonathan on board is a major step in bringing our vision to fruition."
Artisan has a wealth of Marvel characters at its disposal, including such old favorites as Captain America and Thor.
Marvel's sure to get a boost from the Sony release of "Spider-Man" on May 3. And the big-ticket films keep coming after that. Fox's sequel to "X-Men" will be a summer 2003 event film, as will "The Hulk." A successful sequel to "Blade" already has New Line at work on a third entry of the Wesley Snipes starrer. And Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner ("Alias") and Michael Clarke Duncan will star in "Daredevil," being directed by Mark Steven Johnson for January release via Fox.
Also building momentum is an adaptation of "Ghost Rider," which still looms as a vehicle for Nicolas Cage once Marvel Studios sets it up again after getting rights back from Dimension Films.
<img src="http://members.aol.com/erinmoran01/images/bobafez.jpg"" height=100 width=300>