Hammer time for Branagh?
September 29th 2008 11:59
MOVIE NEWS
SEE ALSO Johnny Depp as The Riddler?
Kenneth Branagh wants to give his flagging directing career a spark by turning to the world of the superhero.
According to Variety, the 48-year-old Brit is apparently in talks with Marvel Studios about bringing the Norse God Thor to life.
The comic book giant Marvel is keen to get one of its most popular characters up on the big-screen and follow in the successful footsteps of Spider-Man and Ironman, and to a lesser extent Hulk.
It would be quite a departure for Branagh, who originally burst onto the scene in 1989 with the bloody adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor and another for Best Director.
He has however failed to rise to the lofty heights of his debut performance as a movie-maker.
There was some mediocre offerings in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Frankenstein (1994) and Hamlet (1996), but true hits have been few and far between. I honestly can't think of any.
Shying away from the classical works by Shakespeare or Mary Shelley, Branagh was behind the camera for modern-day drama Sleuth last year with Michel Caine and Jude Law, but it received little positive attention.
Branagh will soon be seen in an acting capacity alongside Tom Cruise in Valkyrie, but has nothing else in the pipeline, in front or behind the camera.
It would certainly be an interesting move by Branagh to leave his Thespian background behind and take on the might of Thor.
Marvel announced earlier this year its plan is to have the hammer-wielding superhero in cinemas by 2010 followed by Captain America and The Avengers in 2011.
The Avengers would see the likes of Ironman, Captain America, Hulk and Thor team up for the first time in a full-length feature film.
In the Marvel Universe, Thor's Norse father Odin wants to teach his son humility so sends him to earth - and into the body of a partially disabled human called Donald Blake - without any memory of his real identity.
Over time he is able to change back and forth between his human form and that of the God of Thunder Thor to fight evil, with a giant hammer in his hand.
Everyone from Brad Pitt (presumably 'cause he looked like Thor in Troy) to Kevin 'Dog Soldier' McKidd has been mentioned to play the title character.
According to Variety, the 48-year-old Brit is apparently in talks with Marvel Studios about bringing the Norse God Thor to life.
The comic book giant Marvel is keen to get one of its most popular characters up on the big-screen and follow in the successful footsteps of Spider-Man and Ironman, and to a lesser extent Hulk.
It would be quite a departure for Branagh, who originally burst onto the scene in 1989 with the bloody adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor and another for Best Director.
He has however failed to rise to the lofty heights of his debut performance as a movie-maker.
There was some mediocre offerings in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Frankenstein (1994) and Hamlet (1996), but true hits have been few and far between. I honestly can't think of any.
Shying away from the classical works by Shakespeare or Mary Shelley, Branagh was behind the camera for modern-day drama Sleuth last year with Michel Caine and Jude Law, but it received little positive attention.
Branagh will soon be seen in an acting capacity alongside Tom Cruise in Valkyrie, but has nothing else in the pipeline, in front or behind the camera.
It would certainly be an interesting move by Branagh to leave his Thespian background behind and take on the might of Thor.
Marvel announced earlier this year its plan is to have the hammer-wielding superhero in cinemas by 2010 followed by Captain America and The Avengers in 2011.
The Avengers would see the likes of Ironman, Captain America, Hulk and Thor team up for the first time in a full-length feature film.
In the Marvel Universe, Thor's Norse father Odin wants to teach his son humility so sends him to earth - and into the body of a partially disabled human called Donald Blake - without any memory of his real identity.
Over time he is able to change back and forth between his human form and that of the God of Thunder Thor to fight evil, with a giant hammer in his hand.
Everyone from Brad Pitt (presumably 'cause he looked like Thor in Troy) to Kevin 'Dog Soldier' McKidd has been mentioned to play the title character.
SEE ALSO Johnny Depp as The Riddler?
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