One week ago, the Walt Disney Company made the shocking announcement they were buying Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, leading to all sorts of speculation about what that meant for both companies, including thoughts on the creative possibilities, some more serious than others. As sudden as the news and its impact hit the internet with only a few immediate questions being answered, one of the more interesting news bits to come out of the merger appeared in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly where it stated:
“Pixar is said to already be eyeballing an Ant-Man movie.”
Readers of Superhero Hype! will be aware that British filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) has been developing a project based on Marvel’s scientifically shrinking superhero for many years, having even appeared on Marvel Studios’ Comic-Con panel way back in 2006 to talk about it. (You can read Superhero Hype!’s exclusive interview from that time here.) Even so, Marvel Studios has remained mum about any plans to go forward with the project since then, setting release dates for movies based on Thor, Captain America and the Avengers, while neglecting the previously-announced project.
Anyone reading the statement in Entertainment Weekly might immediately assume it means Pixar would do a CG-animated version of the Marvel second-stringer in a similar manner as their hit The Incredibles, but that might not be the case at all. Currently, Pixar Studios is in pre-production on a live action movie based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars, so the idea of Pixar “eyeballing” the already-scripted project could mean they might actively try to finance and produce a live action movie, taking the reins and burden off of Marvel Studios.
Whether or not that will mean that Edgar Wright is in the director’s chair is another question that will need to be answered eventually. Currently, Wright is just starting what could be a long post-production process on his third movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World for Universal, based on the graphic novel series from Bryan Lee O’Malley; that also hasn’t set a release date. Chances are that Pixar will be involved in developing the current script further, but Wright has other projects he could tackle if Ant-Man wasn’t ready to go once “Scott Pilgrim” is finished.
We’ll have to see how this potential news pans out, but in the meantime, what do you think about Disney and Pixar Studios picking up the ball and running with an Ant-Man movie?
Source: Entertainment Weekly
