Valiant’s live-action Harbinger movie has reportedly found its latest director. On Tuesday, it was announced that Paul Downs Colaizzo is in talks to write and direct the upcoming movie, which is in development at Paramount Pictures. Downs Colaizzo is best known for writing and directing Brittany Runs a Marathon, the 2019 movie starring Jillian Bell. Downs Colaizzo will be replacing director Wes Ball, who was announced to be tied to Harbinger earlier this year, but is reportedly stepping away to focus on pre-production of the next Planet of the Apes movie.
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Harbinger would follow a group of teens with superpowers who go up against the corporation that tried to exploit their talents. Initially created by Jim Shooter and David Lapham, the group has played a unique role within Valiant’s ever-growing comics universe, with fan-favorite characters like Faith Herbert / Zephyr joining the roster over the years. The film adaptation has been in development for several years now, with the project initially being set up at Sony and targeting a 2018 release date.
Harbinger would be the latest entry in Valiant’s efforts to created a shared cinematic universe of its characters — something that seemingly would not be “impossible” amid the rights to the characters being split between Paramount and Sony. The Valiant universe already made its way onto the big screen with 2020’s Bloodshot, starring Vin Diesel.
“There’s a lot of wind to its back and it gives confidence to other studios and other partners to really step up and push these things forward,” Valiant Entertainment’s Dan Mintz told ComicBook.com back in 2020. “So, I’m feeling good about all of that, and that rollout to me is very, very clear. It’s very, very clear because A, you have two studios rolling stuff out, and then B you also have us rolling things out.”
“Set the voice, set the pace, make sure that it holds up, and then within that, you have an amazing amount of creativity,” Mintz tells us. “People always want to just have as much playroom as you can, but if you notice, some of the most successful pictures are really not very good canvases. You can be as creative as you want within that, but you can’t go off and start painting on the wall, or on the floor, or whatever, which often happens. Now, you can bring your voice and bring your vision, and bring your talent. It really is a collaborative platform, but it definitely needs that canvas.”
What do you think of the latest update surrounding Paramount’s Harbinger movie? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
h/t: Deadline
