As a kid I had a collection of old time radio programs that included an episode of The Shadow. I loved that episode and listened to the tape again and again until I knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men, and until the tape wore out from too much use. When I started reading comics heavily in the 80s, the 3rd and 4th series of The Shadow was at the top of my list of issues to buy.
Walter Gibson was hired by Street and Smith in the 1930s to write two novel length stories of the dark crime fighter each month. The stories of the noir crime fighter continued for nearly 20 years. Since the creation, the Shadow has appeared on radio, magazines, comics, and film.
When the 1994 Alec Baldwin adaptation of The Shadow came out, I was thrilled with the results, even though the movie didn’t break even, dashing my hopes of seeing a sequel, until today…
I’m not the only fan of The Shadow; the Hollywood Reporter broke news today that Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights to The Shadow with Sam Raimi, Josh Donen, and Michael Uslan set to produce via their production companies.
Raimi, who is not attached to direct, told the Reporter, “I’ve been a passionate Shadow fan ever since I was a kid and have long dreamed of bringing this character to the screen.”
If Sam Raimi is producing, then you can bet he will turn out a film that will please fans.
Tapped to write the screen play is Michael Uslan, who got his start in the comic industry writing 1975’s Shadow comics for DC. According to ComicBase, Uslan is credited only on issue #9, although there are several gaps in the database.
Uslan is quoted in the article as having spent time with Walter Gibson and feels he has a great understanding of the character and how to bring that to the silver screen.
At this time, no release date has been announced.
Via The Hollywood Reporter (link)
