Deadline reports that DOCTOR STRANGE will likely be the first Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures comic book film to hit the screen.
The article states that Marvel has hired Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Lionsgate’s new CONAN movie) to write the screenplay. The other superhero films Marvel Studios has in development and pre-production will continue to be distributed under the pre-existing deal with Paramount Picture.
Created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for Strange Tales #110, Dr. Steven Strange was a cynical, egotistical, money-minded surgeon, who lost the fine motor control of his talented hands in a car accident.
Sunk in self-pity and depression, Strange eventually wandered his way into the Himalayas, and became the student of the Ancient One. There his emotional scars were healed, and he began a journey of self-elightenment and the path towards becoming a Master of The Mystic Arts.
Meeting opponents such as fellow disciple Baron Mordu, Morgan Le Fay, and the dread other-dimensional enity Dormammu, Steven Strange eventually became the Sorcerer Supreme. From his Greenwich Village Sanctum Santorum, with the aid of his servant Wong, and student Clea, he battled to protect the earth from supernatural menaces.
Dr. Strange made it to TV in a 1978 Universal movie, intended to launch a CBS TV series, but poor ratings and scheduling derailed that plan. Peter Hooten stared as Steven Strange, with high profile guest stars Jessica Walters and Sir John Mills. Oddly enough, the fillmmakers put him in a costume more superhero-ish than the looser-fitting garb he wears in the comics.
Filmmakers have been trying to launch a Dr. Strange movie since the mid-1980’s, with Bob Gale (BACK TO THE FUTURE), Wes Craven (FRIDAY THE 13th), and David S. Goyer (BATMAN BEGINS) all taking a crack at it.
Doctor Strange’s often surreal and otherworldly adventures would benefit from today’s special effects, and might lend itself well to the current 3-D craze.