Michael B. Jordan Channels BLADE In First BTS Look At Ryan Coogler's Untitled Vampire Movie

Michael B. Jordan Channels BLADE In First BTS Look At Ryan Coogler's Untitled Vampire Movie

The first photos from the set of Black Panther director Ryan Coogler's mysterious vampire movie have been shared online, and Michael B. Jordan seems to be rocking a bit of a Blade look!

By MarkCassidy - Apr 26, 2024 09:04 AM EST
Filed Under: Horror
Source: Via FearHQ

Filming is now underway on Ryan Coogler's mysterious 1930s-set vampire movie, and the first photos from the set have found their way online (via IMDb).

Most of the snaps show some of the buildings that have been constructed for the shoot, but one gives us a glimpse of star Michael B. Jordan in-costume as... well, we're still not sure!

It's been pointed out that Jordan's hair, beard and shades are at least somewhat reminiscent of a certain Daywalker, and we'd have to agree! Whether intentional or not, the Black Panther actor does seem to be channelling Blade here.

Back when we first heard about this project, it was said to be so top secret that "executives and buyers were forced to make the pilgrimage to the Beverly Hills offices of WME, the agency that represents Coogler and Jordan, in order to take a gander at the script."

However, some details have since leaked.

The film was initially described as a "genre feature," with a "period element to the story," but we'd later learn that it was actually going to be set in the Jim Crow-era South and possibly involve both vampires and Southern supernatural traditions (this has yet to be confirmed).

Jordan may actually be playing two roles here, as one rumor claimed that the Creed star had been cast as twin brothers. Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo and Jack O’Connell are also on board in supporting roles.

Details on their characters are similarly under wraps, but according to a recent trade report, "Mosaku may be playing Jordan’s romantic interest (but of which twin?); O’Connell may be a racist antagonist."

Check out the photos at the links below.

Coogler's director of photography, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, shared a photo to her Instagram page when cameras started rolling. As you can see, the movie does have a title, but it's been hidden behind some black heart emojis!

The secrecy surrounding the title has led to speculation that the film is going to be based on an existing IP, but it certainly sounds like an original concept.

Have a look at the photo below, and see if you can make out any letters.

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WhateverItTakes
WhateverItTakes - 4/26/2024, 9:07 AM
this will be django unchained but with vampires mark my words
Itwasme
Itwasme - 4/26/2024, 9:09 AM
@WhateverItTakes - do you not know when the Jim Crow Era was?
WhateverItTakes
WhateverItTakes - 4/26/2024, 9:17 AM
@Itwasme - regardless....imagine my surprise coogler doing a film about segregation and racism
Itwasme
Itwasme - 4/26/2024, 9:33 AM
@WhateverItTakes - regardless if you know when the time period was? It sounds like that's a great reason why a film like this should be done.
WhateverItTakes
WhateverItTakes - 4/26/2024, 9:38 AM
@Itwasme - does coogler do any other types of films?
Itwasme
Itwasme - 4/26/2024, 9:42 AM
@WhateverItTakes - does it matter? His track record is stellar. You don't need to go. You can keep thinking the Jim Crow Era was pre-Civil War too. That's all your prerogative. But why bitch and complain about things to everyone else?
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 4/26/2024, 9:45 AM
@WhateverItTakes - Depends what you mean by that, is Space Jam: A new Legacy the same type of film as any of the Creed ones? Both have a sport theme I guess

Is Black Panther the same type of film as Anthem? Both have songs in them I guess :D
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 4/26/2024, 9:52 AM
@WhateverItTakes - oh heck yeah!
Cleander
Cleander - 4/26/2024, 9:55 AM
@WhateverItTakes - Good for him and as much as I can't stand his movies I prefer a director that has a lane that sets their work/subject apart from other directors.
TheNewYorker
TheNewYorker - 4/26/2024, 10:09 AM
@Itwasme - 😂
GhostDog
GhostDog - 4/26/2024, 10:46 AM
@WhateverItTakes - he literally made a movie about a boxer with a central Father-Son theme
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 4/26/2024, 10:59 AM
@GhostDog - Ultimately most artists tend to be drawn towards what they know to varying degrees and things they grew up hearing about thus having an interest in even if sometimes just taking what jobs are available that don't include things they have experience with or what they would normaly be drawn towards from a creative interest standpoint.

Someone whose parents would have grown up towards the end of the Jim Crow era and have heard stories from his black Grandparents too is going to be inspired/drawn towards stories including aspects of that at times just as I may be drawn towards stories of WWII due to hearing stories from my Grandparents during that (both paternal ones were Navy, my maternal Gran RAF). However, yeh not all his films focus on that at all and not all the same themes or genre so...
GhostDog
GhostDog - 4/26/2024, 11:12 AM
@Apophis71 -You explain it perfectly. Scorsese has done a number of Italian centric films or gangster centric films but its by no means his entire catalog of films. He has made six gangster movies (like a third of his filmography). But its obviously something he is drawn to and knows a lot about.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 4/26/2024, 9:07 AM
Coogler ain’t slick. Saw Marvel taking too damn long and said:
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ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 4/26/2024, 9:14 AM
@GhostDog - it’d be extremely funny if this was secretly the blade movie
GhostDog
GhostDog - 4/26/2024, 9:17 AM
@ShimmyShimmyYA - I respect the secrecy around it. Sometimes we have too much access to movies before they even come out, these days. A lot of movies used to be a mystery while they were shooting and now we see entire scenes shot sometimes via someone's camera phone. Or a "scooper" or leaker drops the entire plot on reddit.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 4/26/2024, 9:24 AM
@GhostDog - agreed

Some of it is our damn fault for clicking on the articles and such but I do miss those days.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 4/26/2024, 9:28 AM
@TheVisionary25 - Real anticipation and hype was seeing a trailer for something only available in the theater or early days Youtube. When all you could look forward to was the comic con footage or description and no social media set photos were being leaked day in and day out.
ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 4/26/2024, 11:14 AM
@GhostDog - phase 4 and D3 made me realize that fr. Too much leaker stuff i self filter now , everyone should

We shouldn’t know this much about movies before they’re released
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 4/26/2024, 12:16 PM
@GhostDog - similar to what @ShimmyShimmyYa said, but what if the “scooper” got “Blade being a period piece” wrong? They got wind of Ryan Coogler doing a black vampire movie and automatically thought it was the Blade reboot.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 4/26/2024, 1:05 PM
@WruceBayne - That sounds entirely plausible
JonAwesome
JonAwesome - 4/26/2024, 6:37 PM
@ShimmyShimmyYA - I’m sad because Michael B Jordan would have been an awesome Blade!
bobevanz
bobevanz - 4/26/2024, 9:11 AM
Meh, Vampires are so two thousand and late
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 4/26/2024, 9:55 AM
@bobevanz - yeah. I was kinda thinking that while watching Abigail. Kind of a 'been-there-done-that' sort of feeling....
IcePyke
IcePyke - 4/26/2024, 9:55 AM
@bobevanz -
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Superspecialawesomeguy
Superspecialawesomeguy - 4/26/2024, 9:56 AM
@bobevanz - I'm waiting for more of a Werewolf resurgance myself, hopefully The Wolfman (2025) which is being directed by the guy who did Upgrade and The Invisible Man, will kick it off!

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Origame
Origame - 4/26/2024, 10:00 AM
@bobevanz - saying two thousand and late is so two thousand and late
TheVandalore
TheVandalore - 4/26/2024, 10:13 AM
@Origame - was that like a Black Eyed Peas lyric?
Origame
Origame - 4/26/2024, 10:15 AM
@TheVandalore - it was also just slang back in 2008.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 4/26/2024, 9:13 AM
Damn , he looks good!!.

However , I feel like he’s less channeling Blade (maybe the glasses) but moreso Jamie Foxx from the end of Django Unchained or Will Smith from Wild Wild West.

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Malatrova15
Malatrova15 - 4/26/2024, 9:28 AM
Yuu7
marvel72
marvel72 - 4/26/2024, 9:48 AM
Yeah I think I will be giving this a pass.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 4/26/2024, 9:56 AM
@marvel72 - wait til u see a little more footage
Izaizaiza
Izaizaiza - 4/26/2024, 9:55 AM
Damn. Looks like a fun show. Can't wait!
Itwasme
Itwasme - 4/26/2024, 9:55 AM
It makes a lot of sense to do a vampire film because the Jim Crow Era was 100 years and there was a lot of change that happened over that time. My gut is this movie might cover the whole time period which would be interesting. I've seen a pretty good lack of understanding of the Era on these threads alone. As someone else said, there's been tons of movies on the 4 year time-frame of the Civil War, but not as much for the 100 years after (at least not holistically).
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 4/26/2024, 10:37 AM
@Itwasme - There are interesting ways you can use certain time periods/locations with these sort of things, case in point class divide and rampant poverty, poor sanitation etc with Victorian set one, the whole body snatchers stuff for Frankenstein to build a monster sort of thing and with Vampires the percieved prudishness of the era with the sexual taboo aspects with Vampires.

If using something like a Jim Crow ere you could for instance have white people fearing sickle cell anemia, that being falsely ascribed to why deaths are occuring leading to a Tulsa like burning down of a neighourhood. They can bring in Southern supernatural traditions as defences or methods of countering a Vampire threat instead of over reliance on the more Catholicism based approaches to all of that. It should not be all about black v white at all, if anything I'd say it would more likely still have a white damsel in distress in it tbh and need not be all vampires being white (the double casting rumour could suggest Jordon is both a Vampire and also a hero if playing two brothers) but as a backdrop there are aspects of that time that can be worked into a gothic horror themed story.
Origame
Origame - 4/26/2024, 9:59 AM
...that doesn't look like blade at all.

Do...do you think any black man in sunglasses automatically looks like blade?
RolandD
RolandD - 4/26/2024, 10:02 AM
@Origame - Exactly my take, too.
Mrtoke
Mrtoke - 4/26/2024, 10:37 AM
@Origame - any black man with shades? no. any black man with shades AND vampires? yes
Origame
Origame - 4/26/2024, 10:48 AM
@Mrtoke - nah brah. Blade has his own style that can't be summed up as "black vampire dude with shades".
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