Another Hollywood entity is trying the daredevil move -- literally -- of rebooting a superhero franchise that hasn't really been away that long.

The Fox-affiliated production company New Regency, which produced the initial "Daredevil" back in 2003, is making another go of a movie headlined by that character. The company is interested in restarting the Marvel franchise and has hired David Scarpa, a writer best known for the script of  the 2008 sci-fi remake  "The Day the Earth Stood Still," to offer a new take. Former News Corp. executive Peter Chernin will also produce the project via his new production company.

Fox/New Regency have been rumored for some time to be interested in a new "Daredevil," but to this point had taken few concrete steps in that direction.

The first "Daredevil," which came out in 2003, starred Ben Affleck as the supersensory superhero and Colin Farrell as his nemesis Bullseye, with Jennifer Garner playing love interest Elektra Natchios. Despite some mixed reviews, that film performed reasonably well (about $180 million in global box office) -- enough to prompt the spinoff "Elektra" with Garner back in 2005 (which didn't perform as well). It's not yet established who from those casts might return if the new "Daredevil" moves forward.

The original Marvel comic book series "Daredevil" told of the adventures of Matt Murdock, a young man from the working-class neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan who acquired particularly keen touch and hearing senses after a bio-chemical accident left him blind. Those familiar with the reboot say that the new project would give Scarpa latitude to reinterpret plot points and character nuance.

Mark Steven Johnson, who also counts "Ghost Rider" among his credits, wrote and directed the 2003 "Daredevil." (He recently moved on to a less fannish realm, directing the Kristen Bell romantic comedy "When In Rome.") In addition to "Earth," Scarpa also wrote on the military-prison thriller "The Last Castle" that starred James Gandolfini.

New Regency is following a vogue for reboots of franchises that were, well, just booted. Sony is scrapping its existing Spider-Man franchise to start over with "(500) Days of Summer" director Marc Webb and screenwriter James Vanderbilt, who will tell a high-school-set origin story. The initial "Daredevil" did feature some details of the character's beginnings, though a new script would not be burdened down with nearly as much of the mythology that saddles the "Spider-Man" franchise, which over three films intensively explored the character's origins and development.

Studios generally are eager to continue development even on less-high-profile comic book characters. Fox, in particular, wants to ensure that it doesn't miss out on the superhero bounty ("X-Men" and its spinoff characters are currently its most vibrant superhero properties). Keeping comic book licenses in active development also legally prevents the characters from reverting to Marvel, which would happen over the coming years if new development work wasn't done on the Marvel-licensed titles.

--Steven Zeitchik

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 "Daredevil" art. Credit: Marvel Comics.

Here's one more Comic-Con International 2008 anecdote as I clean out my notebook from the long weekend:

Could a British actor wear the red horns of the Man Without Fear? Jason Statham says, "Absolutely, just give me the chance, I would love to be Daredevil."

Statham was in San Diego to promote "Death Race," his upcoming high-octane film, but after a long day "The Transporter" star was taking it easy with a beer downstairs at the Hard Rock Hotel. Also sitting at the table was filmmaker and comics icon Frank Miller, whose solo directorial debut "The Spirit" arrives in theaters on Christmas Day. Fans of comics know that Miller became a superstar for Marvel Comics with his work on "Daredevil" beginning in 1979 and many of his creations and innovations (not least among them, the character Elektra) added new depth to a character that had largely been an also-ran for Marvel since his title started in 1964. Miller got a twinkle in his eye when the topic turned to a Daredevil movie.

Daredevil made to the screen in 2003, of course, with Ben Affleck in the red suit, filmmaker Mark Steven Johnson writing and directing and much of Miller's mythology as its foundation. The movie arrived on Valentine's Day but not everybody loved it--some notable critics despised it, in fact, and on Rotten Tomatoes it got 43% positive reviews, which may be the definition of lukewarm. (I myself thought the movie was underrated, although when I think about it I probably respected it more than I actually liked it.)

Sitting with Statham and Miller, it was easy to get excited about the idea of another "Daredevil" movie, one that was not a remake as much as it was a new installment. Hey Miller is the man who wrote the "Born Again" story arc in "Daredevil" -- there's plenty he could do with the character in a new movie. Statham said he is eager to work with Miller at some point and that he adores the Daredevil character. I made the mistake of asking Statham if might not make a better Bullseye than Matt Murdock and I thought he might hit me with his pint glass. "Forget Bullseye, I want to be Daredevil!" Miller nodded. "I think he should be Daredevil too."

Bonus: I wrote a long feature on Statham in August last year, you can find it after the jump.