BLADE Director Bassam Tariq Exits Project Two Months Before Production Starts

The director of Marvel’s Blade, Bassam Tariq, exited the project only a couple of months before the film was supposed to start production. It was supposed to start shooting in November, and as you might expect, the departure has been quite a shock. There’s no doubt that Marvel is scrambling to figure out who to bring on to replace him.

There’s no word on why exactly Bassam left the project, but he will stay on as an executive producer as he spent a lot of time developing the film, which stars Mahershala Ali in the title role. The film also stars Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre.

Tariq said in a statement: “It’s been an honor working with the wonderful folks at Marvel. We were able to put together a killer cast and crew. Eager to see where the next director takes the film.”

I imagine this means the film is not going to go into production in two months. That’s not enough time to bring in a new director and then prep for the shoot, which is sure to be massive. All these Marvel projects are huge productions and whoever Marvel brings on next is going to need time to figure out their vision for the film and prep for it.

The movie was supposed to be released on November 3rd, 2023, but I doubt that the release date is going to stick. Who would you like to see Marvel hire to bring Blade to the big screen?

Source: Variety