Venom , the long-awaited Spider-Man spin-off, looks to be moving forward with Sony apparently tapping up Chronicle ’s Josh Trank to occupy the director’s chair.
The LA Times reports that Trank is currently in negotiations with the studio, having wowed executives with his low-budget trickery on Chronicle . He becomes the second director to be linked to the project, after Hunger Games helmer Gary Ross turned down the opportunity back in 2009.
The film will provide an opportunity for Sony to do justice to one of the Marvel universe’s most iconic villains, having seen Topher Grace’s incarnation relegated to footnote status in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 .
For those of you who missed that one, Venom is an alien symbiote that attaches itself to human host Eddie Brock, and transforms him into an ooze-slinging supervillain with powers to equal Spidey himself. There's no word on how Spider-Man would fit into the new film, so we'll have to wait and see whether Andrew Garfield will find himself squaring off against the alien antagonist.
Screenwriter Jacob Estes had previously turned in a script portraying Venom as an anti-hero rather than a villain, but Sony are apparently looking for a new script as well as a director and star. No Topher Grace then? Ah well…
