Stephen Norrington

Stephen Norrington (born 1964) is an English filmmaker and special effects artist known for his work in the horror and action genres. Beginning his career as a sculptor and makeup artist, he worked under the likes of Dick Smith, Rick Baker, and Stan Winston on a number of well-known, effects-driven films of the 1980s and 90s. His directorial credits include the cult sci-fi horror film Death Machine and the comic book adaptations Blade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He portrayed Michael Morbius in the alternate ending to Blade.[1]

Stephen Norrington
Born
Stephen Norrington

1964 (age 56–57)
London, England, UK
NationalityBritish
OccupationFilm director, special effects artist, makeup artist, sculptor, illustrator, storyboard artist
Years active1984–present

Career

Norrington first worked in film as a special effects artist, doing so for several years, which included work on the films Aliens and Split Second. His debut as a director was in the 1994 movie Death Machine but it was directing Blade in 1998 that gained him international status as the film became a box office hit. Despite the film's success, Norrington turned down directing the sequel. Norrington directed League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) during which he had such a hard time with Sean Connery, the film's star, that he announced he would never direct another film again. He would later change his mind, though as of 2018 he has yet to do so.

Norrington was originally attached to Dimension Films's Ghost Rider before the project was acquired by Columbia Pictures.[2] Norrington was originally set to direct a remake of the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans, before the position went to Louis Leterrier, director of The Incredible Hulk.[3]

In 2008 it was announced that Norrington would direct a reboot of The Crow franchise.[4] In 2010 it was reported that Norrington would direct and write the supernatural action thriller The Lost Patrol to be distributed by Legendary Pictures.[5]

In December 2011, Norrington revealed in an interview that, for the past year, he'd been working on Untitled Norrington Genre Project #1, based on a feature film script he wrote in April 2008 for that years Script Frenzy challenge. Centering on car chases, the project was said to feature both live-action footage, and scale models for greenscreen shots. Norrington revealed he was doing most of the work himself, much like with his 2001 film, The Last Minute.[6]

In 2018, Blade co-star Stephen Dorff said Norrington was making a film with miniatures at his own house. Dorff thought the film would take Norrington another decade to complete.[7]

Unrealised projects

Norrington has had several unrealised projects throughout his career, listed here in roughly chronological order. During a career that has spanned over 20 years, Norrington has worked on projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Many of the films were produced after he left production.

In 1999, Norrington was offered to direct Blade II, the sequel to his 1998 film.[8][9] He turned it down, resulting in the studio hiring Guillermo del Toro to replace him.[10]

In 2001, Norrington was originally attached to Dimension Films's Ghost Rider before the project was acquired by Columbia Pictures.[2][11] The film was eventually released in 2007 directed by Mark Steven Johnson.[12]

In 2001, Norrington announced that he had agreed to direct a film based on The Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu, a film adaptation based on the Marvel character Shang-Chi. Norrington described the film as "a real honest-to-goodness martial arts film, rather than a film that simply has martial arts in it". In 2004, it was announced that Ang Lee had been brought on as producer. In 2005, it was announced that Stan Lee had agreed to executive produce the film for DreamWorks, with Yuen Woo-ping directing from a Bruce McKenna screenplay.[13] In 2005, Avi Arad stated that he thought that a PG-13 adaptation was possible.[14] In 2006, Ang Lee confirmed his and Yuen's continued involvement with the project.[13] In December 2018, a different film adaptation of Shang-Chi was announced, with a script by David Callaham, without Norrington.[15]

Shortly after Warner Bros. acquired the rights in 2002, Stephen Norrington was slated to direct a remake to the 1988 film Akira, with James Robinson writing the screenplay and Dan Lin producing.[16][17] Norrington had planned to make the remake more appealing to Western audiences, making Kaneda and Tetsuo brothers. Following the commercial disappointment of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003, which both Norrington and Robinson were also on, the project was put on hold.[16]

In 2003, Norrington's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was intended to spawn a film franchise based on further titles in the original comic book series, but there was little enthusiasm for a sequel due to disappointing performance at the box office.[18] In 2013, after the sequel was scrapped, it was reported that Fox was ordering a pilot for the television version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with Michael Green serving as writer and executive producer. If the project went to series, Norrington and showrunner Erwin Stoff would have had executive produced. Neither Moore nor O'Neill would be producers on the series.[19] It had also been reported that the pilot episode would still be broadcast, even if Fox opted not to green-light the series.[20] Only a couple years after news of the television series ceased, The Tracking Board reported, on 26 May 2015, that 20th Century Fox and Davis Entertainment had agreed to develop a reboot film with hopes of launching a new franchise. The report stated that a search was underway for a director who could help "continue to develop the reboot".[21] John Davis told Collider in an interview that the reboot will be a female-centric film.[22] Since then, there has not been any further announcements, falling into development hell.

In 2007, Norrington was originally set to direct the remake of the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans. However, Norrington was unsure about his direction for the project because he did not grow up with the original. Louis Leterrier, who did, contacted Norrington through their shared agent about replacing him. Leterrier's film was released in 2010.[3][23]

In 2008, it was announced that Norrington would direct a reboot of The Crow franchise.[4] He left the film by 2013 and was replaced by F. Javier Gutiérrez.[24] By July 2015, Gutiérrez eventually left the project and was replaced by Corin Hardy.[25] Hardy also left the project on 31 May 2018, leaving the film in limbo.[26]

In 2010, Norrington was going to direct and write the supernatural action thriller The Lost Patrol to be distributed by Legendary Pictures.[5] Since then, there has not been any further development.

Filmography
Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1994 Death Machine Yes Yes Associate
1998 Blade Yes No No Also made a cameo as Michael Morbius in a deleted scene[1]
2001 The Last Minute Yes Yes Yes
2003 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Yes No No

References
  1. Kit, Borys (13 October 2010). "Stephen Norrington finds 'Lost Patrol'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010.
  2. Miska, Brad (13 January 2010). "WWII Backdrop, Monsters and 'The Lost Patrol'". Bloody Disgusting.
  3. Phillips, Emily (15 December 2008). "The Crow To Fly Again: LXG's Norrington to write, direct". Empire. Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  4. Miska, Brad (21 April 2010). "'The Crow' Redo Flying Back to Detroit?". Bloody Disgusting.
  5. "Stephen Norrington to Helm The Lost Patrol – WWII Plus Monsters!". Dread Central. July 2012.
  6. "'I'm Making My Script Frenzy Script!' A Q&A with Stephen Norrington". The NaNoWriMo Blog. 2 December 2011.
  7. Greenblatt, Leah (16 July 2018). "Blade oral history: Wesley Snipes and the cast look back at a modern cult classic". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  8. Fleming, Michael (25 March 2002). "Helmer scales mountains". Variety. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  9. Wolff, Ellen (21 July 2002). "Artists flaunt character development at confab". Variety. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  10. "Blade 2 Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  11. Michael, Fleming (30 August 2000). "'Ghost' adds a Dimension". Variety. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  12. Harris, Dana (8 April 2003). "Johnson sees 'Ghost'". Variety. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  13. Ang Lee's Shang-Chi movie is back
  14. Carroll, Larry (June 2012). "Future Shocks: What's Ahead For Avi Arad and his Marvel empire?". MTV.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007.
  15. "'Shang-Chi' Marvel's First Asian Film Superhero Franchise; Dave Callaham Scripting, Search On For Director Of Asian Descent". Deadline Hollywood. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  16. Marc, Christopher (6 April 2017). "Akira: The Tortured History of the Unmade Live-Action Adaptation". IGN. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  17. Linder, Brian (17 June 2012). "Akira Hollywood Remake!?" IGN. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  18. "The Numbers: Box Office Data". The Numbers. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  19. Goldberg, Lesley (9 July 2013). "Alan Moore's 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' Gets Put Pilot Order at Fox". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  20. Bibel, Sara (9 July 2013). FOX Orders 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' Pilot Archived 13 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  21. "{TB EXCLUSIVE} Fox Enters Development on "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" Reboot". The Tracking Board.
  22. Goldberg, Matt (13 August 2015). "'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' Reboot to Be Female-Centric". Collider.
  23. Fleming, Michael (13 December 2007). "Norrington to direct Titans". Variety. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  24. Korsgaard, Sean CW (30 October 2014). "Interview with James O'Barr, creator of The Crow". korsgaardscommentary.com. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  25. Salcido, Mark (29 October 2017). "Exclusive: The Crow Reboot To Begin Pre-Production In February". Screengeek. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  26. "'The Crow' Remake is Dead Again as Jason Momoa and Corin Hardy Exit". /Film. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
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