Kraven the Hunter Director Attached to Remake of Francis Ford Coppola Movie

Francis Ford Coppola is known for helming an array of films, including The Conversation, which was nominated for three Academy Awards back in 1975. The Best Picture nominee starred Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who suspects the couple he is spying on is going to be murdered. According to a new report from IndieWire, The Conversation is being adapted into a new series. J.C. Chandler, who directed Sony’s upcoming Marvel film, Kraven the Hunter, is signed on to write and direct the show. 

In addition to being a series, the new version of The Conversation will also be gender-flipped. The show is currently in development from MRC and executive-produced by Coppola’s American Zoetrope banner. Erin Levy (Mad Men, Mindhunter) is signed on as the showrunner, and Chandler will direct via CounterNarrative Films alongside Temple Hill and producer Adam Fishbach. Previous rumors suggested Aubrey Plaza would star in the project, but a source has told IndieWire that no actors are currently attached to the project. 

There are conflicting reports as to whether the show is meant to be a limited series or a multi-season show, but IndieWire says the series is “envisioned as an ongoing series.” You can read an official description of the show below:

“Based on Francis Ford Coppola’s seminal 1974 film, The Conversation follows luddite Harry Caul, a surveillance specialist obsessed with privacy, as she becomes entangled in a corporate espionage mystery that is bigger than she ever imagined. As she gets deeper, the surveillant becomes the surveilled, and she’ll have to step outside of her reclusive life and make the personal connections she’s been avoiding to find answers, and save herself.” 

What Is Kraven the Hunter About?

You can read the official description for Kraven the Hunter here: “Kraven the Hunter is the visceral story about how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Set before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the titular character in the R-rated film.”

Kraven the Hunter is the fourth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, which exists separate from Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, home to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Sony has weaved its own web of Spidey spin-offs that include Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and Morbius (2022) with Madame Web coming this month.

“He is a hunter and from that world of hunting and there’s so many aspects [to him]. What I love about that character is that he has flaws,” Taylor-Johnson previously told ComicBook. “Kraven is a beautiful character. Sergei Kravinov is a beautiful character because it’s someone who’s really understanding themselves and has flaws. This is a character that was built ages ago and it’s in a new time and era, but yeah, is he going to be the hunter that we all want to see? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.”

Kraven the Hunter is slated to open in theaters on August 30th. Stay tuned for more updates about The Conversation.