Quentin Tarantino reportedly in talks with 20th Century Fox for big-budget reboot of 'The Shadow'

Will Quentin Tarantino find out what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Fox knows.

First of all: Yes, that Shadow. The one that once starred Alec Baldwin and Penelope Ann Miller. The one that failed to set the box office on fire back in the mid-90's. The film was supposed to be the start of a lucrative franchise for Fox back in the day, but when audiences decided that they weren't all that curious "what evil lurks in the hearts of men" (or what Alec Baldwin looks like wearing a cape and a silly hat), The Shadow was forgotten. Until recently, apparently, as reports are coming in that none other than Quentin Tarantino is in talks with the studio to co-write and possibly direct a reboot. Will this be another failed Tarantino dream project, or will this be his Inglorious Basterds follow-up? Speculation and more details to follow, my gentle Examiner readers...

Today, the news arrived that Quentin Tarantino is currently in secret talks with 20th Century Fox to co-write and possibly direct a reboot of The Shadow, a franchise that Fox got their hands on years ago and hasn't done anything with since (which, considering how the original-- starring Alec Baldwin-- turned out, might not be such a bad deal). Apparently, the reboot was once slated to be helmed by Sam Raimi, but for whatever reason that deal fell through. Before we go any further, let's take a look at what's being said over at Pajiba.com:

...The person that is now attached to the project is none other than Quentin Tarantino, who is also attached as co-writer.... Maybe he loved (the) original radio show and the pulps (which do seem up Tarantino’s alley), and maybe he saw Siavash Farahani’s script and decided that, if anyone could erase the memory of Alec Baldwin’s atrocity, it’d be him.

So, Fox had the rights, lined up Raimi to direct, the plan falls through. Enter: Tarantino, who they want to rework the script by Siavash Farahani (no, I don't know who that is, either) and direct. Pajiba does have a point: the dark, noir-ish series is certainly something that we can imagine Tarantino putting his particular stamp on, but is this really the project that we want him to direct next? If the other option is a third Kill Bill (which was awesome, but come on already with the Kung-Fu), then the answer is "Yes". If the other option is the horror film that Tarantino's been threatening to make for the past few years, the answer is "No".

The Shadow was, as we mentioned before, originally a character that appeared in pulp magazines and the like before becoming a popular radio show in the 30's. Wikipedia tells me that there have already been five Shadow movies, but I'm hard pressed to recall any that didn't also feature Alec Baldwin in the lead. In that film, Baldwin played a Bruce Wayne-type who gets his vigilante justice on with the aid of some shady psychic powers. Also, there was something involving an invisible hotel. Trust me, it's not worth seeking out. But Tarantino might be able to bring something to the table. Guess we'll have to stay tuned on this one, won't we?

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