Sony Pictures took to social media on Friday to announce its choice in actor Tom Hardy for the title role of the upcoming franchise reboot, Venom. Reuben Fleischer will direct the film from a script by Scott Rosenberg and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 scribe Jeff Pinkner and with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing along with Amy Pascal.
The news comes following the film’s announcement back in March in wake of plans to reboot Marvel property Spider-Man now in affect with Jon Watts’s forthcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming starring Tom Holland, and adaptations of Black Cat and Silver Sable also in the works. Fleischer’s addition replaces The Mummy helmer Alex Kurtzman who was originally tapped to helm.
Venom was created by Randy Schueller, David Michelinie, Mike Zeck and Todd McFarlane in 1984 and would gain further prominence as a villain several years later. The crux of the character centers on him as an alien symbiote who needs a host to survive, ultimately taking on several including Peter Parker rival, Eddie Brock.
Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony’s Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 – production starts this fall. pic.twitter.com/OZQqDEvoum— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) May 19, 2017
Hardy’s performance will be the first of the character’s full-fledged return to live-action cinema in eleven years since Spider-Man 3 opened in 2007 with Topher Grace in the role. Venom will open in theaters on October 5, 2018. (THR)