Shane Black's Savage

One of the pulpiest of all pulp heroes, DOC SAVAGE, is polishing his pistol and gathering his Fabulous Five friends for a big-screen adventure, courtesy of LETHAL WEAPON guy Shane Black.

According to AICN, Black is bringing writer Lester Dent's famed Man of Bronze to life, writing and possibly directing the movie. Black says he fully intends to keep the tanned, sinewy adventurer in his proper period, the 1930s.

Collider says that contrary to AICN's initial report, omnipresent writer/producers Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci (STAR TREK, TRANSFORMERS) aren't actually behind the project -- it's apparently Ori Marmur and professional noisemaker Neal Moritz (XXX, STEALTH).

The character purportedly influenced many later famous heroes of film and print, from Batman and Superman (Savage trained himself beyond physical limits, and had an Arctic "Fortress of Solitude") to Buckaroo Banzai (Doc was also a surgeon, inventor, scientist and musician). He generally traveled with a quintet of colleagues (specialists in various fields), which should provide plenty of opportunity for Black's brand of banter.

Black has been keeping a low profile for the past decade or so, aside from his terrific modern noir KISS KISS BANG BANG. He was most recently attached to direct a spy thriller called COLD WARRIOR.

Source: AICN , Collider

Extra Tidbit: A DOC SAVAGE movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Darabont and director Chuck Russell never materialized.