Among a pool of other possible Hollywood filmmakers, Sony is considering actor Andy Serkis to direct the upcoming sequel to Venom, according to an exclusive report by The Hollywood Reporter. Serkis met with Sony this week in Los Angeles to discuss the upcoming project. The company is aiming to have shooting begin November of this year. According to IMDB, it appears that Tom Hardy will return as Eddie Brock, a investigative journalist who finds his body merged with a sentient alien symbiote. Kelly Marcel penned the script for the sequel.

This is an important decision for Sony, given that they are creating a sequel to follow up the first Venom which, despite mixed reception, grossed a successful $856 million at the global box office. While Serkis is known for his work in front of the camera, such as his motion-capture work as Gollum in the Lord of The Rings franchise, he’s also had experience helming projects as a director. These include the 2017 drama film Breathe and 2018’s Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which involved a different perspective on Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Since Serkis’ roles involve films with computer-generated characters and other special effects, this would be provide him experience to draw on to make Venom 2 work.