Last October, lovers of good old fashioned pulp had a reason to get very, very excited when Ain't It Cool News broke the news that Shane Black was hard at work on a screenplay for Doc Savage. The 1930s hero -- who is also returning to the comic book page in DC's upcoming "First Wave" comics -- has never managed to make it to the big screen (we're going to ignore 1975), but now that the world is primed for the mysteriously gifted, buffed and bronzed kind of man, he stands a far better shot. Now he has landed a director as well as a screenwriter -- and wouldn't you know it, they just happen to be the same guy! According to Variety, Black will also be directing the film, and Anthony Bagarozzi (his partner on Cold Warrior) and Chuck Mondry are co-writing the screenplay with him.

Black has been poised for a comeback for a few years now, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was an extremely promising (dare I say perfect?) directorial debut. Anyone familiar with Kiss Kiss knows his love of pulp runs deep, and I suspect he's going to understand Doc Savage like no screenwriter or director before him.

The project has found a home at Columbia, where it'll be overseen by producer Neal Moritz. Columbia and Sony now have a new enthusiasm for pulp thanks to Seth Rogen shoving The Green Hornet* into production, and there's no telling where this obsession might lead. Though if it goes no further than a really, really good Doc Savage movie and a decade of Black helmed projects, I can die a happy fan.*Pulp enthusiasts know that Hornet isn't truly a pulp hero. But he is of radio serials and that's close enough, I guess.

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