Blade is a 1998 American superhero horror film directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name, it is the first installment of the Blade franchise. The film stars Wesley Snipes as the titular character with Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson and N’Bushe Wright in supporting roles. In the film, Blade is a Dhampir, a human with vampire strengths but not their weaknesses, who together with his mentor Abraham Whistler and hematologist Karen Jenson, fights against vampires, namely the exceptionally vicious Deacon Frost.
Released on August 21, 1998, Blade was a commercial success, grossing $70 million at the U.S. box office, and $131.2 million worldwide. Despite mixed reviews from film critics, the film received a positive reception from audiences and has since garnered a cult following. It is also hailed as one of Snipes’ signature roles. It was followed by two sequels, Blade II and Blade: Trinity, both written by Goyer who also directed the latter. Blade was a dark superhero film for its time. The success of Blade began Marvel’s film success and set the stage for further comic book film adaptations.
This delay is one more setback in a run of setbacks that has plagued the new Blade film. The project has been in the offing since 2013, when it was first teased that Marvel was developing a script. After officially announcing the film in 2019, Marvel gave Blade a release date of November 3, 2023.
However, they pushed the release back after original director Bassam Tariq left due to creative differences and was replaced by Yann Demange. Demange joined at the point that the previous screenplay by Stacy Osei-Kuffour was being rewritten by Michael Starrbury.
The most recent news on the screenplay front was the addition of Pizzolatto, who was announced to have joined Blade this April, mere weeks before the film’s production was originally scheduled. That situation had already called Blade’s projected production start date into question before it was officially delayed by this week’s strike.
.jpg)
