Austin native Robert Rodriguez is busy overseeing the final stages of Predators as he produced that feature for Fox with Nimrod Antal (Armored) directing and now a new report from The Playlist says he may be sticking around the studio for a little while longer and perhaps take up the helm on Deadpool.
Deadpool is the spin-off project based on the Ryan Reynolds character from X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Zombieland scripters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick penned the screenplay with Reynolds expected to return as the wise-cracking mercenary. Reynolds is currently busy with Green Lantern and has a few other films in the pipeline so no telling when this project may get off the ground.
As for Rodriguez, he recently finished Machete, which Fox will release on September 3, and has Spy Kids 4: Armageddon for Dimension Films as the next film on his docket. While this is only an offer for Deadpool, should it come to fruition I expect it would be the next film Rodriguez would take up.
Next, after the departure of Guillermo del Toro from The Hobbit director’s chair, the Internet went wild with speculation as to who would take over. Along with Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi was at the tip of many people’s tongues, but it appears he may be taking up Disney’s Oz, the Great and Powerful, a prequel to the 1939 MGM classic The Wizard of Oz.
However, one name no one mentioned was Warner’s hot to trot Harry Potter helmer, David Yates, who directed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and parts one and two of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. With such apparent interest in the magical realm of fantasy I guess it only seems like an obvious choice given his connection to Warner Bros. and The Playlist and Slashfilm are reporting it sounds like a possibility.
Yates completed production of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II yesterday as Slashfilm reported based on Twitter post by Potter supporting actor Warwick Davis. So with the upcoming November release of Part I, Yates will be in post-production on those films most likely up until the July 2011 release of Part II, with nothing but an empty slate in front of him.
Of course, like the Rodriguez news, these are just reported offers and by no means should be taken as done deals, but it’s just a bit of food for thought.
