Now usually I take everything I hear from The Associated Press with a massive grain of salt but they have script writer and producer quotes, and well you just can’t ignore that kind of source. Unless they have totally made up a story then there has to be some truth to this.
According to producer Bruce Sherlock and screenwriter Tim Boyle, an Australian production company have secured the rights to the Phantom series and are set to make a $87 million budgeted sequel to the 1996 superhero flop THE PHANTOM which starred Billy Zane and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Sherlock was executive producer on the original film.
The sequel will be titled THE PHANTOM LEGACY…
The latest adaptation, which is expected to cost $87 million, will focus on “the Father/Son relationship, and what it means to be The Phantom,” scriptwriter Tim Boyle said in a statement. “The film will be set in the present day and will deal with the concept of destiny.”
“It has the makings of a blockbuster,” Sherlock told The Associated Press. “There’s some surprises that will thrill the Phantom fans worldwide.” Sherlock’s Sydney-based Sherlock Symington Productions won the rights to the film.
The movie is expected to be shot in Australia and will begin filming within the next six to nine months with the producers on the hunt for an Australian or American actor to play the lead. The original was a disaster of epic proportions, just one of the many superhero mis-fires of the 9o’s…
THE PHANTOM dates back to a daily newspaper comic book strip created by Lee Falk in 1937. It featured Kit Walker as the 21st in a family legacy of crime fighting masked heroes who worked from a jungle headquarters.
One would think this will be a complete reboot (not that many people remember the original anyway) rather than a sequel.
5 Comments
I quite liked “the Phantom” when it came out but then again I’m a sucker for 1930’s/40’s pulp characters, i’m still waiting for someone to make a great Doc Savage film!Mind you that might all end with the release of Frank Miller’s”Spirit” film.
I thought the Phantom was entertaining when it came out. Of course I was also like 13 at the time so that may have been a determining factor. I’ll have to watch it again to judge for myself, but I’m excited for a film based off of another 30s/40s era comic hero.
I’ll have to see it again since I enjoyed it as a kid as well.
Anyone who sinks 87 mil into a sequel to that film is out of there MIND!
Chuck
I think its great that they are remake or making a sequel whatever they want to call it. It is a good character and it will introduce the story to a younger audience that may not know the story or charcater. I though the first one was ok but it can be alot better. Hopefuly they pick the right person to play the role.