Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot became the latest movie to fall victim to the Coronavirus pandemic, with the comic book adaptation failing to hit a $10 million domestic opening weekend. Even though the movie cost a modest $42 million to produce, the closure of cinemas around the world made it virtually impossible for the flick to turn a profit, so Sony instead decided to make it available for digital download after just two weeks in theaters.
While it may recoup some of the box office losses, Bloodshot might still end up costing the studio money, which has already thrown plans for the proposed Valiant Comics cinematic universe into disarray. In 2015, China-based DMG Entertainment signed a nine-figure deal to turn their properties into an interconnected set of movies and TV shows, and it looks like Bloodshot may have already rendered the experiment a bust, like many a failed cinematic universe before it.
However, we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us Han would return to the Fast & Furious franchise, and that John Cena is playing Vin Diesel’s brother in F9 – that the Valiant franchise isn’t quite dead just yet. From what we understand, Bloodshot is set to wiped from continuity completely, with Paramount planning to acquire the rights to the character from Sony and start fresh, perhaps even without Diesel’s involvement, as we reported on yesterday.
Whether the actor remains on board or not, though, the studio wants to take a stab at building the mythology, with titles like Harbinger, Faith and X-O Manowar (which Paramount already own the rights to) set for the live-action treatment as well. Vin Diesel probably isn’t going to be too happy about the news, but Bloodshot already seems like it will be completely forgotten about by the time the Coronavirus crisis is over and besides, there’s still a chance they can keep him on board for the reboot. Apparently, though, most studio execs are in favor of drafting in a younger actor for the role.
Regardless of which direction they decide to go in, it’s good to hear that the aforementioned film bombing doesn’t spell the end for Paramount’s planned Valiant cinematic universe and that it’ll indeed be moving forward. Now we just have to wait and see if it’ll feature Vin Diesel or not.
