Venom Goes Animated: A New Direction for Sony

Sony Pictures is charting a new course for the Venom franchise, with the next installment planned as an animated feature rather than live-action.

The studio has enlisted Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, the directors behind the recent horror hit 'Final Destination: Bloodlines,' to lead the project. While producers like Amy Pascal, Avi Arad, and Matt Tolmach are expected to be involved, details remain fluid at this early stage.

Tom Hardy's potential involvement is also uncertain, with possibilities ranging from producing to reprising his voice role as Venom or his live-action portrayal of Eddie Brock. Sony Pictures Animation has initiated a writers' room to develop a script for the animated film.

This animated approach, similar to the successful 'Spider-Verse' movies, aims to refresh the character. However, the animation process is lengthy, and with a script still in development, a release is likely several years away. Lipovsky and Stein have a track record of revitalizing established franchises, having directed the highest-grossing 'Final Destination' film.

The studio is exploring new creative avenues for Venom, who first appeared in 1988 and has since become a popular comic book character and a recurring figure in blockbuster films. The previous live-action 'Venom' films, while financially successful initially, saw a decline in subsequent entries.