Marvel’s upcoming Blade reboot just lost its director, Bassam Tariq.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 35-year-old filmmaker has left the upcoming Blade reboot – a report that has been confirmed by Marvel itself.
“Due to ongoing changes to our production schedule, Bassam is no longer advancing as director of Blade but will remain executive producer on the film,” Marvel said in a statement to THR. “We appreciate Bassam’s talent and all the work he has done to get Blade to where he is.”
Blade was already in production with Tariq at the helm and was set to begin filming in November.
The upcoming Marvel movie stars Mahershala Ali as everyone’s favorite walker, Blade, alongside Delroy Lindo as well as Krypton star Aaron Pierre.
News of Tariq’s exit comes just months after news broke that the director had boarded the project. It’s unclear what impact Tariq’s exit will have on the production of the next Marvel vampire movie, but it’s likely production will be pushed back for a while as Marvel searches for a new director.
“It’s been an honor to work with the wonderful people at Marvel,” Tariq said in a separate statement to THR. “We were able to put together a killer cast and crew. Can’t wait to see where the next director takes the film.
As it stands, Blade has already seen production change several times, with THR’s sources confirming that the project has gone through several rounds of rewrites. Moon Knight writer Beau de Mayo is the current author of the project.
However, sources also confirm that Marvel is already looking for its new director.
Blade is easily one of Marvel’s most anticipated upcoming projects, entering a darker corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside Werewolf by Night as well as the recent Doctor Strange sequel and TV show WandaVision. .
The film also has many fans eagerly awaiting – including John Wick director Chad Stahelski, who has already expressed interest in directing the project.
“After John Wick 3, [Kevin Feige] was nice enough to take a lot of time and have a good conversation,” he revealed. “And he actually asked me, ‘What could we do? I was like, ‘Look, I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t know if I fit that kind of studio mold, but Blade would be the only interesting thing I’d like to do.
Whoever gains control of Blade at this point will need to get to work. After all, the movie is set to debut on November 3, 2023. But if you ask me, chances are we’ll see that date pushed back to welcome the new director. After all, Tariq had been working on the project since the summer of 2021.
Want to know more about Blade? Check out the 15 best R-rated comic book movies plus the Eternals post-credit scene explained.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment reporter and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.