Bloodshot (Valiant Comic Live Action Movie)

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'Bloodshot,' 'Harbinger' Comics to Get Film Treatment From Sony, Valiant Entertainment (Exclusive)

The deal will see 'Fast and Furious' producers team with 'John Wick' directors for 2017's 'Bloodshot.'

A month after comic book publisher Valiant Entertainment revealed it had received a nine-figure investment in its movie and television development arm, the independent publisher is announcing a five-picture deal with Sony Pictures to bring two of its series, Bloodshot and Harbinger to the big screen starting in 2017.

Both Bloodshot and Harbinger will receive two features each before a fifth movie, Harbinger Wars, will bring both properties together, inspired by the Valiant comic book series crossover from 2013.

Bloodshot, targeted for a 2017 release, will be directed by the John Wick team of David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, working from a screenplay by Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) and Eric Heisserer (The Thing remake, the upcoming Story of Your Life). Matthew Vaughn and Jason Kothari will act as executive producers.

For Harbinger, Heisserer will provide the script solo, while potential directors are being kept under wraps for now. All five movies will be produced by Valiant's Dinesh Shamdasani, along with Original Film's Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe (The Fast and Furious franchise, 21 Jump Street). Andrea Giannetti will oversee for Sony.

Harbinger, created by former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and David Lapham, is a next-generation X-Men-esque storyline about a group of superpowered beings on the run from the Harbinger Foundation, an organization run by a mysterious philanthropist Toyo Harada. Bloodshot, created by Kevin Van Hook, Don Perlin and Bob Layton, is a soldier brought back from the dead by a secret government agency, turned into an unstoppable killing machine with no memory powered by nanotechnology.

Both properties were among the first revived by Valiant Entertainment during the company's relaunch in 2012, leading to 2013's Harbinger Wars series by Joshua Dysart, Duane Swierczynski, Clayton Henry, Pere Perez and Clayton Crain.

In addition to Bloodshot and Harbinger, a number of other Valiant properties are in development, including odd-couple action comedy Archer & Armstrong and supernatural thriller Shadowman. The company received funding from DMG Entertainment in March for feature and television development, which teased development of properties for both the U.S. and China markets, including Chinese-language publishing and animation as well as movies.

The Hollywood Reporter