Blade (1998)

Blade is a 1998 American vampire-superhero action film starring Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson and Stephen Dorff, and is loosely based on the Marvel Comics character Blade. Snipes plays Blade, a human-vampire hybrid who protects humans from vampires. The film was directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Despite mixed reviews, Blade grossed $70 million at the U.S. box office, and $131.2 million worldwide. It was followed by two sequels, Blade II and Blade: Trinity. Facts about Blade (1998) 1. Wesley Snipes became attached to the project because he was in discussions with Marvel Comics to be Black Panther, a project that is still pending as of 2005. 2. Jet Li was offered the role to play Deacon Frost, but opted to do Lethal Weapon 4 instead. 3. LL Cool J was originally considered for the part of Blade. 4. When David S. Goyer first pitched the idea of doing a Blade movie, the executives of New Line felt there were only three actors who could possible do the role: Wesley Snipes, Denzel Washington and Laurence Fishburne, but in Goyer's mind, Snipes was always the perfect choice for the character of Blade. 5. Kris Kristofferson's character Whistler was created for Blade's cameo on the Spider-Man: The Animated Series cartoon show. He was liked so much by Marvel CEOs that he was adopted into the Marvel Universe.