Spider-Man Spinoff Movie "Venom" takes the next oozing step toward reality

[Brian Damage]

The Spider-Man franchise seemed to come off the rails creatively with the disappointing third chapter in 2007. No, it wasn't Batman and Robin, but suffice it to say fans weren't particularly happy, especially with the treatment of fan fave and longtime Spidey arch-nemesis Venom.

Now Sony is going forward with a Venom spinoff movie, which pretty much has fans split down the middle. Will it finally do the fanged black-ooze baddie justice, or will it be more of the same? The good news is that Zombieland co-writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have been tasked with penning the project (Zombieland is awesome, so fingers crossed).

Today Wernick confirmed to us that the project is still moving forward and the writing team has turned the script in to the suits at Sony. "We've written two drafts of Venom, and the studio has it, and they're pushing forward in whatever ways they push forward," Wernick told SCI FI Wire in an exclusive interview.

So when might Venom be going into production? "We're not sure, [but] we've turned in our two drafts," said Wernick.

One big question has been whether a Venom movie might happen even before Spider-Man 4, but that now appears unlikely. The latest rumors have Spidey 4 shooting in early 2010. When asked about the relationship between the two movies, Wernick was tight-lipped. "We can't really talk about that, unfortunately," the writer said before adding, "Basically, the studio and Marvel and the Arads are taking our drafts and going beyond and figuring out what's the next step."

http://scifiwire.com/2009/09/venom-m...es-the-nex.php