Shane Black tapped by Sony to direct Doc Savage

Having steered Iron Man 3 to the second biggest opening weekend in US box office history, it was never going to take long for Shane Black’s voicemail to start filling up with significant new offers.

He doesn’t seem to have wasted much time in sorting the wheat from the chaff either, with reports claiming that Black’s next project will be Sony’s forthcoming adaptation of Doc Savage .

The eponymous hero of a series of pulp novels from the ‘30s and ‘40s, Doc Savage is oft described as a kind of mash-up of Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan, what with his incredible detective skills and awesome physical prowess. Given the character's rich history in print, radio and film, there's certainly franchise potential here.

The Doc is a scientist, physician, adventurer, inventor, explorer and researcher, and uses his considerable clout to thwart evil wherever he finds it. Pretty sound chap, all told...

“We couldn’t be more excited to be building a franchise from the ground up with Shane and this team,” said Columbia Head of Production Hannah Minghella. “Shane and Neal (H. Moritz) have a fantastic understanding of the character and a great take on the material and we can’t wait to get this production up and running.”

Given the character’s pulpy background, and the considerable scope for a tongue-in-cheek approach to the script, we can see why this one might have tickled Black’s fancy. As for who might take the lead role, let the speculation start below...

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.