Less than a week after he parted ways from the much-anticipated comic-book adaptation of Ant Man, director Edgar Wright may be heading back to work for Disney with The Night Stalker, a remake of the classic TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
The film has been in development for a while now, with Johnny Depp starring as the tabloid reporter Carl Kolchak, a role that Darren McGavin played in one season on television. Kolchak’s investigations are far from routine, moving into supernatural territory with characters that include zombies, werewolves and aliens. Although the series was not a big hit, it was cited as a big influence on Chris Carter when he created The X-Files, and also gave early gigs to Robert Zemeckis and The Sopranos‘ David Chase.
While many commentators were quick to lament Johnny Depp’s career after Transcendence became his fourth box office bust in a row, the actor still has much appeal when playing zany characters caught up in playful, over-the-top situations (everything from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas). Edgar Wright’s manic visual style and love of genre tropes could make him the, ahem, right man to recharge the dead batteries of Depp’s career.
This news is not yet confirmed, but a Night Stalker script from D.V. DeVincentis is reportedly in good shape, according to Deadline, so the production could be a go sooner rather than later. Still, Deep has his roles as Whitey Bulger in Black Mass and a sequel to Alice in Wonderland on the way, so he may have to make some room on his schedule.
Since Wright is no longer attached to Ant-Man, he has no projects in line. However, the big question is if Disney would want him to work on another high-profile film for the studio, after he left the Marvel film due to “creative differences.” Still, supernatural sci-fi comedy is well within the director’s range, as he demonstrated with 2013’s The World’s End. And, if Depp wants to work with Wright, it would be hard for Disney to say no to the A-lister.
