While Andy Serkis was only just named director of the upcoming sequel to the Venom movie, lots of work is being done on the project already. Serkis appeared at the TCA press tour to discuss his upcoming turn as the Ghost of Christmas Past in FX's A Christmas Carol, and also took the time to speak briefly about the film.
"I'm right in the beginning stages, so I've got some very clear ideas about the journey, [and what] I'd like to see visually, and how we can take the characters into another direction," he explained.
However, Serkis also revealed that Tom Hardy, who stars as the titular Venom, is hard at work on the film's story. "Tom was very involved with the writing--with [screenwriter] Kelly Marcel--of the new story," he said. "So it's very much centered around their take."
For now, though, Serkis is simply looking forward to what's to come. "I'm excited to work with all the great actors who are involved. It's a fantastic franchise," he said. "I'm really honored to have been asked to direct it. And it feels like it's a very, again, very contemporary story. And it's I think it's going to be, hopefully, a story piece of cinema."
Still, even with a massive project like Venom on the horizon, Serkis has no plans to stop acting altogether to focus on directing. "I love doing both. I absolutely love doing both," he admitted. "And man, it's a wonderful thing to be able to go from the intimacy of playing a single character and seeing the world through that character's point of view to stepping back and envisioning and being part of creating, you know, the whole picture."
A release date for Venom 2 has not been officially announced.