Filming has officially kicked off on Sony's Venom movie with Tom Hardy as the alien symbiote antihero. So this thing is actually happening as a launch to Sony's new cinematic universe, the one set outside of Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming. There has been a lot of focus on that aspect of the film, and for good reason, that it's nice finally be able to just focus on the R-rated production. Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, and Jenny Slate are just part of an impressive cast for director Ruben Fleischer.
While today's kickoff does come with a new set photo, which honestly doesn't reveal much, the interesting thing is who is talkinig about Venom right now: Andy Serkis. He continues to push for performance-capture roles to be given more credibility and respect within the industry, and mentions Hardy's upcoming performance as a means of highlighting its advancements...
"The time has come that people understand that performance capture is a technology, not a genre of acting,” Serkis explains in our video above. Acting is acting, and the more actors – like Steve Zahn… and Karin Konoval who plays Maurice in ‘War For The Planet of the Apes’ – the more A-list actors that come on board, like Mark Rylance playing The BFG, or a lot of actors in the new Marvel films… Tom Hardy is playing a new character using performance capture. It all points up ‘what is the nature of acting?’ and there is no difference between acting wearing a costume and make up, or wearing a motion capture suit. That’s plain and simple, it just needs awarding bodies to understand that."
Ironically, Serkis finds himself in the Marvel Universe as Ulysses Klau, a role that doesn't require much if any performance-capture on the actor's part. That Serkis is even bringing up Venom is interesting in that it suggests Sony or Hardy may have spoken to him about it, perhaps to pick his brain about getting the best performance possible. Although it had been assumed, there hadn't been much talk of motion-capture CGI being used on Hardy before now.
Serkis' directorial debut Breathe is in theaters now. Venom opens October 5th 2018. Check out that set photo below. [Yahoo!]
Day 1. #Venom pic.twitter.com/ftkf9pEWn3— Venom Movie (@VenomMovie) October 24, 2017
