'Kraven The Hunter' Movie Coming From 'Triple Frontier' Director J.C. Chandor

J.C. Chandor, the director of Triple Frontier and All is Lost, is in talks to direct Kraven the Hunter, Sony's live-action movie centering on the notorious Spider-Man villain from Marvel Comics. The film has been in development for years, and Richard Wenk (The Equalizer) wrote the screenplay. Chandor's previous filmography makes him an odd choice to tackle a big budget project like this.

Deadline reports that Chandor is "the choice" to direct Kraven the Hunter, a movie about Sergei Kravinoff, who, in the comics, is an over-enthusiastic big game hunter who somehow gets it in his mind that capturing Spider-Man would prove he's the greatest hunter in the world. He frequently uses a serum that gives him super strength that's comparable to Spider-Man's. Kraven prefers not to use guns, instead relying on his brute strength, stealth, and other tactics for hunting his prey.

Chandor's first feature was the 2011 financial drama Margin Call, and he followed that up with 2013's All is Lost, which featured Robert Redford as a man alone on the sea after a storm wrecks his ship. In 2014, Chandor made A Most Violent Year, an under-seen period thriller starring Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, and then last year, he directed Triple Frontier, an action ensemble movie about a bunch of mercenaries working their way through unfamiliar territory after a heist.

None of those movies seem like obvious auditions for a Sony/Marvel film. I guess Triple Frontier, with its jungle setting, is the closest thing on that list; maybe Kraven spends most of his time in the jungle in this story? But then again, this solo film is supposed to be heavily inspired by the comic "Kraven's Last Hunt," and Wenk previously revealed that Kraven will come face to face with Spider-Man. So I guess the question is: is Spidey in the jungle, or does Kraven head to NYC? Also, will it be Tom Holland's version of Spidey? Venom did not include a crossover with Holland's friendly neighborhood webslinger, so Sony is clearly OK with the idea of branching out fully on its own and not leaning on more recognizable hero characters in every instance. Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad, who produced The Amazing Spider-Man movies, are producing this film.

In terms of live-action Marvel films, Sony also has Morbius, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Madame Web, and Jackpot movies in the works, as well as the Olivia Wilde-directed Spider-Woman project we wrote about this morning.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Amy Pascal was on board as a producer. We relayed that from Deadline, who got the information wrong in their initial report. As is their habit, they've quietly updated their article to reflect the change in producers without letting readers know about the update. Our article has also been updated, and you can always count on us to be transparent about our updates and corrections.