Director May Delay 'Venom'

Back in July there were some rumblings about Steven Spielberg directing a film called "Matt Helm," the story of a pulp-fiction swinging spy but without all the "Austin Powers" parody humor. The writing/producing team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were pushing the Paul Attanasio adaptation of Donald Hamilton's 27-book-series, but when Spielberg took Dreamworks from Paramount, executives weren't too keen on giving him "Matt Helm."

The Playlist has an interesting exclusive relating to this film as well as another one that’s been getting several headlines this week. According to an inside source, Gary Ross, the man who was just announced to write and possibly direct the "Venom" spinoff will not be working on that project next.

Instead, Ross will first be taking over the "Matt Helm" project from Steven Spielberg and it sounds like the "Venom" project is quite a ways off, despite earlier reports that had him starting on it after "Spider-Man 4."

Should the news pan out, Ross's directorial attachment to "Venom" might be in question. Certainly, the superhero project would have to wait since "Matt Helm" will shoot first in the summer of 2010 should all go according to schedule.

Ross's attachment to "Spider-Man 4" and "Venom" was already considered a strange development by many due to the fact that his resume lacked some serious action movie experience. His involvement in a spy franchise is no less odd, but perhaps it's a safer training ground for the director before directing a superhero project like "Venom."

What do you make of this news?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: First Showing, MTV News, Screen Rant