Give his huge success with Spider-Man, news that Sam Raimi is interested in reviving a fellow superhero’s chances of movie glory should come as reason for celebration for any fan.
And following the disastrous 1994 film incarnation, which saw Alec Baldwin starring in the lead role, The Shadow is truly in need of a little rejuvenation. Now Raimi and Sony have stepped in to buy the screen rights to the 1930’s pulp hero legend, with Sam stepping in to produce.
Created for a 1931 radio show, The Shadow is a crime-battling hero who used the dark of night as cover and also boasted mystical telepathic powers that could - as he claimed - “cloud men’s minds”. And he’s also fought evil on both the big and small screen, before the awful Universal version brought the franchise to a juddering halt.
Now Sony has hired scriptwriter Siavash Farahani to pen a new version of the script, though with the deal just having been struck, there are no plot details yet. Still, this has long been a dream for Raimi: "I've been a passionate Shadow fan ever since I was a kid and have long dreamed of bringing this character to the screen,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Few franchises like this get a second chance. Let’s hope it’s a good one…
