DOCTOR STRANGE: Marvel Studios is Looking For a Director, Scribes and Possibly a Combination of the Two
Marvel Studios might be the hardest working studio in the business right now, which comes with the territory when your last three films have grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is set to release in April, Guardians of the Galaxy in August, Avengers: Age of Ultron is already filming and Ant-Man with set to begin filming this summer the studio is very busy.
But what's next? Marvel has been coy about its film lineup after Ant-Man releases on July 17, 2015.
Many believe Doctor Strange is coming due to all the hints by Marvel over the past year-plus and now a report by The Hollywood Reporter nearly confirms it is indeed coming sometime after 2015. According to the trade site, Marvel is actively searching for the good Doctor's director and four names are on its current interview list.
"Four contenders in particular have either met or are about to meet with Marvel higher-ups to bring the adventures of Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme to the screen: Mark Andrews, who co-wrote and co-directed Pixar's Brave; Nikolaj Arcel, who wrote and directed last year's best foreign film Oscar-nominated entry A Royal Affair; Dean Israelite, the helmer behind Paramount's upcoming sci-fi time-travel movie Welcome to Yesterday; and Jonathan Levine, the filmmaker behind Warm Bodies and 50/50."
The studio has its eyes on a couple of writers too.
"Jon Aibel and Glenn Berger, the writers behind the Kung Fu Panda movies, are also in the mix, not to direct the movie but to pen the screenplay."
The Hollywood Reporter concludes its report stating that a writer/director combo might be what Marvel is ideally looking for to work on a Doctor Strange screenplay, which was originally written by Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly. The next logical step for a Marvel Studios film is to explore the genre of magic and that's exactly why a Doctor Strange film is being actively developed right now.