The news of
Sam Raimi teaming famous pulp characters into one movie last week was only half right. The official trade confirmation today only mentions that The Shadow will be used, presuambly in his own movie. The character of
The Shadow has already been adapted on screen back in 1994 (with
Alec Baldwin as the lead). That film has a pretty bad reputation these days but it has been praised by many for it's stunning visuals and nostalgia feel. The Shadow was first created over 70 years ago as short radio stories but became more popular for it's run in DC Comics in the 1970's. The character is cited as beintg a major influence on the characters of
Batman, V (from
V for Vendetta) and Sam Raimi's own
Darkman. Sam Raimi said of the Shadow...
"I've been a passionate Shadow fan ever since I was a kid and have long dreamed of bringing this character to the screen," No indication yet that he will be directing the flick but it probably hinges on what is future plans are for
Spider-Man. I would say this is positive news then, team-up films full of characters from different franchises are notoriously bad. In the last couple of years alone we have been subjected to
Van Helsing and
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen which tried this type of thing and failed miserably. Doing one character only, will lead to a more focused film and if succesful then you can deleve into bringing some of the other characters to life. source -
the hollywood reporter,
coming soon