It has become apparent that Marvel Studios is slowing down with its intentions to bring the teenage superhero franchise Runaways to the big screen. The movie was due to start shooting in March 2011, but we can now pretty much scrub that date. That doesn’t mean we won’t see it in the future. We just won’t see it anytime soon.
Some speculated the film was being cancelled altogether, as sources report that Marvel was uneasy moving ahead with their project after Kick-Ass, which contains similar themes, faltered at the box office. According to Deadline, this isn’t true, and that the delay comes from Marvel Studios having too much on its plate at the moment.
The studio plans to take their time bringing Runaways to the big screen so they can do it right. The live action adaptation was written by Lost’s Brian K. Vaughan, and it is being called the The Breakfast Club of teenage superhero flicks. The story revolves around a group of high schoolers that discover their parents are super villains. They band together to use their super powers for good, and build a secret base under LA’s La Brea tar pits.
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist’s Peter Sollett is still attached to direct Runaways, but he is being invited to take on another project first.
It does all sound slightly like the sort of thing a company says before shoving a film into development hell, from which it will never return, but it is true that with the film’s running up to The Avengers, plus plans for the likes of Dr. Strange, TV projects and goodness knows what else, Marvel Studios is insanely busy. So perhaps for the moment, The Runaways is just one project too much.