After the hilarious and hugely well-regarded one-two of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright tried his hand at a fully-fledged Hollywood production with Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Although the film was very well received by critics and much loved by most who went to see it, it met with less than stellar commercial success, garnering a little over half of its estimated budget at the US box office.
Notwithstanding that, Wright is returning to his work on the screenplay for Ant-Man, a lesser profile Marvel property, which he has apparently been looking at since 2006. Wright is tentatively linked to scripting and directing duties on the film, but progress is glacial to say the least. Wright is working with Joe Cornish (Attack the Block, The Adventures of Tintin) on the script and now that he has finished his Scott Pilgrim promotional duties around the globe, he is said to be looking at it more intently than he had been of late.
Aside from trying to find time for scripting the film, Wright and Cornish have to try to work out how to write a story about a superhero who shrinks to the size of an ant to solve crimes. Although giving the script a strongly humourous bent seems like a given, tonally it could prove to be a tough nut to crack. Should it play primarily for younger audiences, or be arch and knowing and bring a smile to the faces of older viewers. It is understandable that it is taking Wright a bit of time to progress this one.
In the meantime, Wright is still chewing over ideas for a third big screen collaboration with Simon Pegg, presumably to complete their Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. Wright says that they have an idea and need to sit down and write something, but with Pegg travelling the world on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and due to follow that with Star Trek 2, perhaps Wright should concentrate on Ant-Man for the time being.
