Marvel Comics' DEATHLOK
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Deathlok

Genre:
Science Fiction/Action/Comic Book Adaptation.

Studio:
Artisan Entertainment.

Production Company:
Unknown.

Project Phase:
Development Hell.

Who's In It:
Unknown.

Who's Making It:
David Self, Stu Zicherman, Raven Metzner (Screenwriters); Avi Arad, Steven Paul (Producers); based on the Marvel Comics character Deathlok.

Premise:
A man is unwittingly grafted with a thinking computer and cybernetic body parts to become the government's killing machine.

Release Date:
Unknown.

Comments:
What exactly the core concept of DEATHLOK is seems to be in flux. The character has seen a number of interpretations in Marvel comics, none of which seems to be etched in stone. The biggest challenge for this project may be creating a film that doesn't just remind viewers of the ROBOCOP films.

Scoop Feedback:

June 3, 2003... IGN FilmForce has uncovered who is the leading candidate to direct DEATHLOK, the sci-fi superhero flick based on the Marvel Comics character. According to the site it's Lee Tamahori, the director of DIE ANOTHER DAY and ALONG CAME A SPIDER.

The DEATHLOK movie is set up at Artisan Entertainment and is about a man who is unwittingly grafted with a thinking computer and cybernetic body parts to become the government's killing machine. Marvel has published a DEATHLOK series on and off throughout the years, most recently giving the character an "overhaul" and bringing more of a cyberspace feel to the premise.

June 4, 2003... June 4, 2003... Yesterday it had been reported by IGN FilmForce that director Lee Tamahori (DIE ANOTHER DAY) was in secret discussions to helm a live-action version of DEATHLOK, based on the Marvel Comics character. Now it appears that FilmForce's source was either incorrect or they had old news. In an article appearing today in The Hollywood Reporter, Tamahori has signed to direct RISK ADDICTION, once written to be the direct sequel to BASIC INSTINCT. [Source: THR.]

July 23, 2003... Lee Tamahori has signed a deal to direct DEATHLOK, based on the Marvel Comics character. If you recall, IGN FilmForce first reported Tamahori as a contender more than a month ago. Shortly after breaking the news, the DIE ANOTHER DAY helmer attached himself to RISK ADDICTION, the former sequel to BASIC INSTINCT.

Pitched as ROBOCOP meets THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, DEATHLOK is about a weapons designer/family man who is implanted with cyborg prosthetics and a computer mind. Over time the man learns to quell his machine desire to serve as a killing machine and then he goes off in search of revenge.

The project is set up at Paramount Pictures. Avi Arad and Steven Paul are producers. The script was written by Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner. [The Hollywood Reporter.]

August 25, 2004... Screenwriter David Self has been hired to rewrite the screenplay for DEATHLOK, the Paramount Pictures film based on the Marvel Comics series and character. Self will work from the draft penned by writers Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner. It's not the first time that Self has immersed himself in the world of Marvel; he also wrote the screenplay for Universal's proposed NAMOR movie.

The Hollywood Reporter mentions that director Paul McGuigan is rumored to be the top candidate that Paramount and Crystal Sky Productions want to direct the movie now, even though no negotiations have took place between the WICKER PARK helmer and the producers.

For those out there that walk by comic stores (and shame on you), DEATHLOK is the name of the half-man, half-machine cyborg created by scientists. Programmed as the military's ultimate soldier and killing machine, the man inside the machine turns out to have been an ordinary family man who would like nothing more than to return to his loved ones. However, the artificial intelligence in Deathlok's mind is programmed to follow orders and so the two thinking personalities clash over their shared future. [The Hollywood Reporter.]