Editing Doc Savage (section)

===Film===
With the Bantam Books reprints a success, media tie-ins for Doc Savage began immediately.  A 1965 house ad for a poster, "The Arch-Enemy of Evil", announces, "Tougher than Tarzan, braver than Bond, Doc is America's newest rage - with teenagers, college students, and the 'in' groups all over the country.  And there's a television series and feature motion picture in the future."<ref>''The Land of Terror'', Bantam Edition, August 1965, 3rd printing.  Last page.</ref>

====''The Thousand-Headed Man''====
In 1967, a ''[[TV Guide]]'' article reported talks were underway to have [[Chuck Connors]] play Doc Savage in a movie adaptation of ''The Thousand-Headed Man''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/04/doc-savage-1960s-movie-that-almost-was.html|title=DOC SAVAGE: The 1960s Movie That ALMOST Was|first=Britt|last=Reid|date=April 17, 2011|website=heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com|access-date=April 2, 2018}}</ref> Complications with rights killed the project.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

====''Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze''====
{{Main|Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze}}
In 1975, producer and director [[George Pal]] produced the [[action film]] ''[[Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze]]'', starring [[Ron Ely]] as Doc Savage. The movie was a critical failure and did poorly at the box office.<ref>{{Cite web | first=Mark | last=Hodgson | url=http://blackholereviews.blogspot.com/2007/06/doc-savage-man-of-bronze-1975-action.html | title=Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze DVD review | work=BlackholeReviews | date=June 8, 2007 | access-date=April 5, 2011}}</ref> Several articles and a later interview with Pal suggest the movie's failure had much to do with its loss of funding during filming when the studio changed heads and Pal was forced to cut costs. Nevertheless, Pal, as producer, is generally blamed for using the "high camp" approach in the style of the ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' television series. An original soundtrack for the film was also commissioned, but when Pal lost his funding, he resorted to a patriotic march from [[John Philip Sousa]], which was in the [[public domain]]. Science-fiction writer [[Philip José Farmer]] tried to get another movie made (there is a notation at the end of the original film that a sequel adapted from the novel ''[[Death in Silver (Doc Savage)|Death in Silver]]'' featuring the infamous [[Silver Death's-Heads]] was in the works, but nothing came of it, despite the drafting of a script for it).{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

====''Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil''====
According to the screenplay by [[Joe Morhaim]] that was posted on the Internet, as well as other archival and news accounts, ''Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil'' was based very loosely on the October 1934 pulp novel ''Death in Silver''. ''Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil'' would feature a deformed, German-speaking [[supervillain]], whose pet man-eating [[octopus]] was a nod to a similar plot element in the September 1937 pulp novel [[Feathered Octopus, The (Doc Savage)|''The Feathered Octopus'']].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulp/dent/bib.pdf |title=A Lester Dent Bibliography by Will Murray, page 23 |access-date=April 5, 2011 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001192125/https://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulp/dent/bib.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In fact, this screenplay was originally intended to be filmed as the first Doc Savage movie.  However, producer [[George Pal]] commissioned a second script based on the first Doc Savage pulp novel, [[Man of Bronze, The (Doc Savage)|''The Man of Bronze'']], because he felt the movie-going audience needed more background information about Doc and his origin.<ref name="Doc Savage Bibliography - Movies">[http://www.geocities.com/pulp.master/doc-savage.txt Doc Savage Bibliography – Movies] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colemanzone.com/Time_Machine_Project/pal_Doc+Savage.htm|title=File Not Found|website=www.colemanzone.com|access-date=April 2, 2018}}</ref>

Contemporary news accounts indicated that ''Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil'' had been filmed in the [[Lake Tahoe]] area simultaneously with the [[principal photography]] for the first Doc Savage film.<ref name="Doc Savage Bibliography - Movies"/>  However, due to the [[Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze#Reaction|poor reception]] of the first film, ''Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil'' was never completed or released. In an interview conducted in 2014, while he was filming the television movie ''[[Expecting Amish]]'', actor Ron Ely stated unequivocally that "no portion of ''The Arch Enemy of Evil'' was ''ever'' filmed, concurrently with ''The Man of Bronze'' or otherwise. That's a total myth."

Finally, in anticipation of a proposed ''Doc Savage'' TV series, George Pal commissioned a two-part teleplay by [[Alvin Sapinsley]] based on the May 1935 pulp novel [[Secret in the Sky, The (Doc Savage)|''The Secret in the Sky'']].  The teleplay was completed in January 1975, but due to the [[Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze#Reaction|poor reception]] of the first Doc Savage film, a [[Television pilot|pilot]] was never filmed.<ref>[http://content-backend-a.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf2s2004v6&chunk.id=c02-1.8.7.3.4 Doc Savage (1975):Box 1, Folder 5] {{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} – Listing of George Pal Papers, 1937–1986 @ Arts Library Special Collections, [[UCLA]]</ref>

====Other film adaptations====
Another screenplay was written by [[Philip José Farmer]] based on the January 1936 pulp novel ''Murder Mirage''.<ref>"Intermission" by [[Will Murray (writer)|Will Murray]] in ''Doc Savage # 11''  (Encinitas. CA: Nostalgia Ventures, 2007)</ref>  It included a potential [[Wold Newton Universe]] cross-over involving a meeting between Doc Savage and a retired [[Sherlock Holmes]] in 1936.  In any case, this screenplay was never filmed.<ref>[http://www.pjfarmer.com/onekind.htm Philip Jose Farmer's Basement: Original Manuscripts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303075117/http://www.pjfarmer.com/onekind.htm |date=March 3, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Chron7.htm |title=Wold Newton Universe |publisher=Pjfarmer.com |access-date=April 5, 2011}}</ref> In 1966, the basic premise of Doc Savage's origin was an obvious influence on the Mexican lucha libre film character ''Mil Mascaras'' (1966), which was released at the height of the popularity of the Doc Savage paperback book series in the U.S.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

In 1999, there was an announcement<ref name="AHNOLD">{{Cite web | url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MWSB&p_theme=mwsb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB82CE61A827892&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | title=Ah-nold in line to play Doc Savage | access-date=November 18, 2009 | date=July 11, 1999 | work=Journal Sentinel Online}}</ref> that a [[Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze#Possible remakes|possible remake]] featuring [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] was in the works, with the involvement of [[Frank Darabont]] and [[Chuck Russell]], but it and several other Schwarzenegger projects (''[[Sgt. Rock]]'' and an epic about [[the Crusades]]) were shelved when Schwarzenegger ran for and was elected [[Governor of California]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=Doc Savage | url=http://www.mania.com/30936.html | access-date=May 22, 2007 | work=Mania.com Development Hell | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927021758/http://www.mania.com/30936.html | archive-date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>

In late 2006, [[Sam Raimi]] was rumoured to be making a film involving several [[Street and Smith Publications|Street and Smith]] [[pulp magazine|pulp]] heroes, including [[The Shadow]], [[The Avenger (character)|The Avenger]], and Doc Savage. A screenplay was supposedly written by Siavash Farahani but since then, no other news surfaced with regards to this script.<ref>[https://uk.ign.com/articles/2006/12/06/exclusive-sam-raimis-pulp-fiction IGN]</ref>

====''Original Film'' projects====
Writer/director [[Shane Black]] was set to direct a film adaptation for [[Original Film]] and [[Sony Pictures]]. Black would also co-write the screenplay with Anthony Bagarozzi and [[Chuck Mondry]]. The film version will be set in the 1930s and will include the [[#Doc Savage's aides|Fabulous Five.]] [[Neal H. Moritz]] will produce.<ref>{{Cite web | first=Tatiana | last=Siegel | date=February 22, 2010 | title=Columbia revives Doc Savage | work=Variety | url=https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/columbia-revives-doc-savage-1118015613/ | access-date=February 27, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/04/24/shane-black-on-his-death-note-and-doc-savage-movies/|title=Shane Black On His Death Note And Doc Savage Movies - Bleeding Cool News And Rumors|date=April 24, 2013|website=bleedingcool.com|access-date=April 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>[http://mobile.thewrap.com/thewrap/pm_105952/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=aYnq4jwT 'Iron Man 3' Director Shane Black to Direct 'Doc Savage' for Sony] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407085914/http://mobile.thewrap.com/thewrap/pm_105952/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=aYnq4jwT |date=April 7, 2014 }}</ref> In September 2013, talking about the difficulty in casting the character, Black commented, "He's the perfect physical specimen, people look at him and they are over-awed by the symmetry and perfection he exudes."<ref>{{cite web|title=Shane Black Interview|url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2013/09/17/doc-savage-update-from-shane-black|website=IGN|access-date=June 3, 2016|date=September 17, 2013}}</ref> In June 2014, it was revealed that he wanted [[Chris Hemsworth]] for the lead role but Hemsworth was never officially announced or attached to the project.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fox Rebooting 'Predator' With Shane Black|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/fox-rebooting-predator-shane-black-714598|website=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=June 3, 2016|date=June 24, 2014}}</ref>

On May 22, 2016, Black told [[Thrillist]] that he would like to make the movie with [[Dwayne Johnson]], stating, "I made a decision that Dwayne is the guy. I would like to do Doc with Dwayne Johnson if we can make that work. It's on the back burner while he's busy."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/the-nice-guys-trailer-shane-black-on-ryan-gosling-and-russell-crowe/entertainment|title=More 'Nice Guys' Scoops from Director Shane Black|last=Patches|first=Matt|work=Thrillist|date=March 22, 2016|access-date=March 23, 2016}}</ref> On May 30, 2016, Johnson confirmed on his [[Instagram]] account that he will be starring as Savage in the film, also hinting that the character is being dubbed the "World's First Superhero", mentioning that Savage's published appearance pre-dated that of [[Superman]]'s (who debuted in 1938). Johnson also included the [[hashtag]] "#World'sFirstSuperhero".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/dwayne-johnson-doc-savage-1201785289/|title=Dwayne Johnson Confirmed for 'Doc Savage'|publisher=Variety|last=Kroll|first=Justin|date=May 30, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BGCDhYSoh0x/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/BGCDhYSoh0x |archive-date=December 23, 2021 |url-access=subscription|title=@therock on Instagram: "It's OFFICIAL: For all comic book fans you already know the world's first superhero (pre-dating Superman) is the "Man of Bronze" himself…"|website=Instagram|access-date=April 2, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> On April 11, 2018, Johnson said he and Black were still eager to do the project, but, "That project had a few issues, not creative issues but more so business affairs issues—where the project once was, who had rights to it, where we were trying to move it to. There was a lot of that, which we're still kind of working through."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://collider.com/doc-savage-movie-dwayne-johnson-shane-black/ | title=Dwayne Johnson Offers an Update on Shane Black's Doc Savage | website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] | date=April 11, 2018 }}</ref>

On February 19, 2020, it was announced Original Film would, instead, shift development to a television series. The project is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and Condé Nast Entertainment.<ref name="tv series in works" />