Sony is moving forward on its five-film plan for joint film franchises based on the Valiant comic books “Harbinger” and “Bloodshot,” which are then set to culminate in a “Harbinger Wars” crossover event film, TheWrap has learned.
Within the last month, Sony has preemptively renewed its option on “Harbinger” — a comic following a teenage runaway Peter Stanchek with massive telekinetic powers — for a sum in the high six figures and is moving to package the pictures quickly.
The previously announced “Bloodshot” — about a mortally wounded soldier resurrected with cutting-edge nanotechnology and charged with rounding up “harbingers” like Stanchek — is now seen as the second film in the series.
The character would be introduced as the villain in franchise kickoff “Harbinger,” an individual with knowledge of the project said, with “Bloodshot” following a year later.
Sony has not responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
The plot for the “Harbinger” screenplay by writer Eric Heisserer (“Arrival, “Lights Out”) is being kept under wraps but it’s believed to follow Valiant’s 2012 volume of the “Bloodshot” series.
Additionally, the move to bump “Harbinger” up in the release order is giving Sony ample opportunity to develop and position additional spin-offs from the “Harbinger” and “Bloodshot” universes.
Attention is now being given to multiple characters from the comics, including the HARD Corps, Livewire, Generation Zero, and, most notably, Faith, who generated a ton of worldwide media attention in the comics space this year and features prominently in the Harbinger script.
Neal Moritz will produce through his Original Film banner with Dinesh Shamdasani on behalf of Valiant Entertainment.
Valiant’s library is truly one of the great and as-yet untapped wells of intellectual property anywhere in Hollywood. The publisher’s bench of more than 2,000 superhero characters (with lifetime sales of more than 80 million copies) makes it the third largest library of superheroes behind Marvel and DC — and the only one not currently owned by major conglomerate.
And unlike its rivals, Valiant has fostered a long and well-earned reputation in the comics world for producing quality storytelling that transcends the norms of the superhero genre. Case in point: This summer, Valiant earned an unprecedented 50 nominations at the Harvey Awards, one of the industry’s highest honors.
“Harbinger,” in particular, is rife with potential for a more grounded and modern take on the genre. In the comic, created by former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter and legendary comics artist David Lapham, Stanchek is recruited by fellow psychic Toyo Harada — a philanthropic billionaire who using his wealth to secretly finance an underground organization called the Harbinger Foundation to manipulate world affairs.
Comic-Con 2016: Biggest Winners and Losers (Photos)
We've arrived at everybody's favorite part of the San Diego Comic-Con festivities -- where we argue about the best and worst of it! Strap in and prepare to fight, as TheWrap's on-site contingent run down the winners and losers of Comic-Con 2016.
Winner: Marvel
Fans who waited in line in the hot San Diego sun for over a day for Marvel Studios' presentation in Hall H Saturday were richly rewarded. Marvel's showcase was incredible from start to finish, with robust looks at "Spider-Man: Homecoming," "Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2" and Doctor Strange," as well as a comedy short from "Thor: Ragnarok" director Taika Waititi about what Thor was doing during "Captain America: Civil War." And almost none of it was posted online, so word of mouth on it was through the roof, as everybody who wasn't in Hall H wanted to know what exactly went down.
Loser: Warner Bros.
This is more a matter of positioning than what the studio showed off in its 140-minute presentation. Almost all of what we saw looked great, in fact -- especially "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League." But the Warner Bros. presentation came just a few hours before Marvel's, and it just couldn''t compare. Marvel had more substance to show fans, and Warner Bros. released everything it showed online as soon as we saw it in Hall H, dramatically lessening the need to talk about it. With more temporal separation from Marvel, Warner Bros. probably would have been counted as a winner on this list.
Winner: "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets"
Luc Besson's wild space opera took Hall H by storm on Thursday in one of the most surprising developments of the week. "Valerian" looks amazing, and could be the spiritual successor to "The Fifth Element" we've been waiting decades for Besson to churn out.
Loser: Game of Thrones
Considering that Season 6 just ended, there was nothing to share about Season 7. We did get a blooper reel and a teaser showing the start of production, but nothing mind-blowing.
In addition, most of the main cast was absent. No doubt they are all working on other projects before filming for the new season commences. But given the monumental storyline shifts for characters like Jon Snow, Cersei, and Daenerys, it would have been a real treat for Kit Harington, Lena Headey and Emilia Clarke to be there.
Winner: Netflix
The footage from the upcoming Marvel series "Luke Cage" got a big reaction from the crowd, especially the trailer featuring ODB's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya." No wonder showrunner Cheo Coker referred to the show as the "Wu-Tangification of the Marvel universe."
When you put something like this in Hall H on the first day of the Con, you're gonna get a lot of side-eye. And, unfortunately, that's about the extent of the attention you're gonna get. By Saturday, it felt like everybody had forgotten the "Snowden" panel had even happened.
Winner: The Walking Dead
After all the animosity stemming from the Season 6 finale cliffhanger, one had to wonder how the AMC series' panel would go. But fans seemed to have moved past the heartache. The first trailer for Season 7 went over huge, particularly the first footage of King Ezekiel and his pet tiger, Shiva.
The cast also reminded us why we enjoy watching them -- they have great chemistry. From Andrew Lincoln's semi-successful glitter bombing of Norman Reedus, to Ross Marquand and Michael Cudlitz carrying on a conversation as Mick and Rocky, respectively, everyone was clearly having fun.
Bryan Fuller is having a banner year. Not only is he the showrunner on the highly anticipated Starz series "American Gods," but also on the newly-named CBS All Access series "Star Trek: Discovery." Both shows had panels at this year's Comic-Con, and both got the internet buzzing when they released first-look footage.
Loser: Pirates
Back in April, 20th Century Fox announced they would not return to Hall H to showcase footage from their upcoming releases due to concerns over piracy. Perhaps in reaction to this, security was very aggressive about cracking down on bootleggers in Hall H and elsewhere, and a lot of the big footage reveals this year went up on YouTube and social media almost immediately after their panels concluded.
That means no more shaky cell phone footage of a screen 100 feet away for some fans. Instead, those at home get to see a ton of great stuff from some huge projects in their hi-def glory.
Winner: Eddie Redmayne
The real highlight of the Warner Bros. panel came when the "Fantastic Beasts" star began running around the massive Hall H giving out magic wands. It was a precious moment and a much needed injection of life coming near the end of the incredibly long session.
Loser: Sunday
Marvel provided the climax of Comic-Con Saturday night. There was still a whole day left afterward, but nobody could be bothered to care. Sorry, "Prison Break" and "24."
Winner: "Star Wars"
There were no "Star Wars" panels or presentations but, even so, it dominated Comic-Con as it seemed like every third person was wearing a "Star Wars" t-shirt. Merch covered the show floor, including a huge ziggurat dedicated to selling you "Star Wars" stuff in the Hasbro area. Maybe nobody was talking about it but the "Star Wars" shadow was cast long over the Con nonetheless.
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Another Comic-Con is in the books, and we look back on how the week went for the big names
We've arrived at everybody's favorite part of the San Diego Comic-Con festivities -- where we argue about the best and worst of it! Strap in and prepare to fight, as TheWrap's on-site contingent run down the winners and losers of Comic-Con 2016.
