'The Eternals' movie: Chloe Zhao chosen as director

Chloe Zhao, a Chinese-born indie filmmaker, has been selected to helm the upcoming “The Eternals” movie. The plot is based on the comics by Jack Kirby about a group of near-immortal superheroes and their counterparts known as the Deviants, both created by cosmic beings known as Celestials.

According to a report by TheHollywoodReporter, the next big franchise for Marvel is the comic book adaptation of “The Eternals,” and Zhao has been chosen to helm this project. Zhao is a rising indie director who has been on the studio’s radar for some time now. She was in the race to direct the “Black Widow” standalone film, but lost out to Cate Shortland.

Zhao made a name for herself with her short films. She has also directed movies like “Songs My Brother Taught Me” and “The Rider.”

The directors that Zhao was contending with to helm “The Eternals” were Nicole Kassel, who directed the pilot episode of “Watchmen”; Travis Knight, who directed “Bumblebee”; and Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, who directed the Colombian movie “Birds of Passage.”

This is a big break for Zhao and it is also ambitious of Marvel to have a truly diverse cast and crew for its films. It remains to be seen if there will be a superhero fatigue that will affect the box office performance of the upcoming movies.

Sources familiar with the developments of the movie have reportedly revealed that one aspect of the plot will be a love story. The love story will be between Ikaris, a superhero fuelled by cosmic energy, and Sersi, who likes to live amongst humans.

The production schedule and release date of “The Eternals” is yet to be announced. Marvel also hasn’t commented on Zhao being chosen as the director. The script of the film has been written by Matthew and Ryan Firpo.