Last year, a little movie called Venom made an insane amount of money at the global box office. Around $856 million, to be exact. That’s not too shabby for a film that inspired a host of memes and ridicule before its release. You can thank the inky black super villain’s monstrously long tongue and silly verbiage for that. The film was a huge enough success that Sony quickly announced a sequel. But who would direct? There have been a ton of rumors going around, but now it’s official: Andy Serkis will directVenom 2.
Yes, that Andy Serkis. The actor is famous for his motion capture performances as Gollum in Lord of the Rings, Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars, Caesar in Planet of the Apes, and loads more. But Serkis is also an accomplished director, working with Peter Jackson on second unit for all three of his Hobbit films. Last year, he directed the Netflix film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. In a lot of ways, he’s a natural fit for a film with a heavily CGI’d motion-capture performance at the center.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Serkis met with Sony on July 22 to discuss the project, and was among several filmmakers considered for the role. Ruben Fleischer directed the first Venom, which starred Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock (a.k.a. Venom), Michelle Williams as his love interest Anne Weying, with Riz Ahmed and Jenny Slate in supporting roles.
No word yet on who will return for Venom 2, but there’s a decent chance we’ll see more of Woody Harrelson, who popped up in the credits of the first film as Venom villain Cletus Kasady, a.k.a. Carnage. Serkis previously worked with Harrelson in War for the Planet of the Apes; we have to imagine that rapport will come in handy for this sequel film.
Venom 2 is currently on the calendar to open in theaters on October 2, 2020.
Images: Sony Pictures