The 'Lord of the Rings' actor, who worked with Wyatt on 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', is being considered to tackle the sequel to the Tom Hardy-starring movie along with Wyatt and 'Bumblebee' director Travis Knight.
- July 27, 2019
AceShowbiz - "Venom 2" is inching closer to getting off the ground with several names being listed as potential director. Sony Pictures has reportedly met with a handful of the directing candidates being eyed for the gig, including Andy Serkis, Rupert Wyatt and Travis Knight.
Sources tell Variety that "these are just meetings and no one has moved into a front-runner position," meaning they all have equal chances to snag the job. Ruben Fleischer directed the first movie starring Tom Hardy, but he won't return for the sequel because he's still in post-production on "Zombieland: Double Tap".
Known for his performance as Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy and "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012), Serkis made his directorial debut with 2017's biopic "Breathe". He also directed 2018's "Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle" for Warner Bros. Pictures.
Interestingly, the British actor previously worked with Wyatt in 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", in which Serkis portrayed the intelligent ape, Caesar. The 55-year-old actor returned for the two sequels, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014) and "War for the Planet of the Apes" (2017), which were both directed by Matt Reeves.
Wyatt, meanwhile, went on to direct 2014's crime drama "The Gambler" starring Mark Wahlberg and sci-fi film "Captive State" which was released in March of this year.
As for Knight, his notable directing credits include "Kubo and the Two Strings" (2016) and "Bumblebee" (2018). He is currently attached to direct a new "The Six Billion Dollar Man" movie for Warner Bros. Pictures.
"Venom 2" is expected to start production in the fall, with Hardy reprising his role as Eddie Brock a.k.a. Venom. The 2018 movie was a box office hit, grossing $856.1 million worldwide despite poor reviews from critics.
