Marvel Grabs Hot Scribe for "Guardians"



Marvel Studios has tapped Chris McCoy to rewrite Nicole Perlman’s draft of the script for Guardians of the Galaxy, the only new property announced so far in Marvel Studio’s second wave of releases. Guardians, which is based on one of Marvel’s lesser known properties and was announced at Comic-Con, is slated to debut in theaters on August 1st 2014. Given that galactic settings of a Guardians epic could require lots of special effects, Marvel will have to get cracking on this project in order to make the 2014 debut.

McCoy is considered one of Hollywood’s up-and-coming writers, even though as The Hollywood Reporter notes, he is yet to receive a screenplay credit. But McCoy has place three so-far unproduced scripts on the Black List that catalogs the best of the Hollywood screenplays that have yet to find a home. According to THR, McCoy’s screenplays "have been praised for their quirky comedic bent," a quality that might be very useful in crafting a script based on Guardians of the Galaxy.

James Gunn has revealed on his Facebook page that he will both rewrite and direct Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. He’d been rumored to be in line to direct , but the rewrite is a new twist. The first script was written by Chris McCoy.

August 1, 2014 has been reserved as the release date.

ABC Orders Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. Pilot

ABC has ordered a pilot episode for S.H.I.E.L.D., a live-action series from Joss Whedon, Marvel TV, and ABC Studios. Whedon will co-write the show along with his frequent collaborators, Maurissa Tancharoen and her husband, Whedon’s brother, Jed. The trio collaborated on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and Tancharoen and Jed also worked on The Avengers with Joss. No word yet on any potential casting moves for the series--is it too much to ask for Samuel L. Jackson?

Just a couple of weeks ago Joss Whedon signed an exclusive contract with Marvel Studios for both movies and television that runs through 2015, and even before the announcement of the S.H.I.E.L.D. project, Whedon’s influence at Marvel was already apparent in the studio’s interest in having Whedon’s friend (and off-beat genre director) James Gunn direct the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

According to Deadline, "Joss Whedon is also set to direct the pilot, schedule permitting." This announcement marks a return to TV for Whedon who created the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dollhouse series.

Marvel has had several live-action TV projects, including a Hulk series and Jessica Jones, in development longer than S.H.I.E.L.D., but this is the first Marvel live-action prime time series to get the green light since the company’s acquisition by Disney.



Of course the network still has to like the pilot in order to get the show on the air, but there is no doubt that a successful Marvel-based series on ABC would provide yet another boost for the comics market.