Do you remember The Shadow? No, not the old radio series. I’m talking about that 1994 movie where Alec Baldwin starred. Remember when he went to that abandoned lot at the end of the movie (you know, the one that no one had bothered to check yet), and he found that invisible building? Man, that’s entertainment.
Remember that it was a big budget action movie? And remember how it bombed? And when I say bombed, I mean BOMBED. It didn’t even make back its budget. Well, Columbia Pictures is hoping to not repeat that mistake. In fact, they are already on their way to a better outcome.
Columbia has recently acquired the screen rights to The Shadow, who is most famous for being a 1930s pulp radio show hero. More importantly, Sam Raimi and Josh Donen are set to produce through Buckaroo Entertainment. Raimi tried to do his own Shadow movie back in the early 90’s, but was unable to secure the rights. This led him to create Darkman, instead. Siavash Farahani is set to write the screenplay.
Though originally created to boost magazine sales, The Shadow has become something of a cultural icon. A young Orson Welles was on the original radio series, and a catchphrase eventually came out of the show: “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”
Am I excited about this? Yes. Should you be, too? I very much believe so. Again, Raimi has tried to do The Shadow in the past, but was unable too. Now, it’s already proven that he can do superhero films, so hopefully Columbia can’t go wrong. Although he isn’t attached to direct at the moment, Raimi has gone on record saying that he’s a huge fan of the character. Raimi has a lot of directing gigs already lined up over the next few years, but hopefully he’ll add The Shadow to his plate.