Los Angeles, “The Berlin Syndrome” director Cate Shortland has been tapped to direct Marvels “Black Widow” standalone movie, which stars Scarlett Johansson.
The news was confirmed by several sources, reports variety.com.
The film has been in development for a while, but picked up momentum in January when Jac Schaeffer was tapped to pen the script. Kevin Feige is producing the project.
Marvel has not made any official announcement about it yet.
The studio met with more than 70 filmmakers for the job before landing on Shortland, who sources say was an early favourite after a promising meeting with Johansson.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, including whether the film will be an origin tale or set after the next “Avengers” movie.
Fans of the character have been pushing for her to get her own movie since she first appeared in “Iron Man 2”. With the latest phase of Marvel films coming to a close, Marvel saw this as the best time to move forward with the project.
The film is one of several female-centric Marvel properties is either developing or in production on currently, including “Captain Marvel”, starring Brie Larson. That movie will be out on March 8, 2019.
Shortland’s past credits include “Lore” and “The Berlin Syndrome”, both of which featured female leads.
