Movies - Preacher

MaxxFisher · 10-29-2008, 07:11 PM

From Comics Continuum

Sam Mendes has been tapped to direct a Preacher movie for Columbia Pictures.

The property, based on Garth Ennis' and Steve Dillon's Vertigo comics series, had been in development in the past year as a television series at HBO with Mark Steven Johnson, the writer/director of Ghost Rider and Daredevil. But the project fell through.

Now, it will be developed as a feature film. Original Films' Neal Moritz is producing with Kickstart Prods.' Jason Netter; the pair is also developing Ennis' The Boys at Columbia.

Netter has developed numerous comic-book properties, including last summer's Wanted movie and the upcoming Wolverine and the X-Men animated series on Nicktoons.

"We have wanted to adapt Preacher for a long time," Netter told The Continuum. "We are so excited to be working with Sam Mendes and Neal Moritz on this film. The fans can be assured that Garth and Steve's genius property is in great hands."

Mendes, 43, won an Academy Award for 1999's American Beauty. He also directed the comics-inspired The Road to Perdition.

ROCKSTAR · 10-29-2008, 08:26 PM

It's a great time to be a comic/graphic novel! Hehe. I don't know anything about this series, but it sounds like it's good. Thanks for the thread.

Wynter · 11-02-2008, 07:49 PM

I read about this on Empire Online the other day! In fact...

Quote:

Sam Mendes To Direct Preacher
Graphic novel series gets the go-ahead

Now here's something we did not see coming - Sam Mendes is set to direct the eagerly-awaited big-screen version of Preacher, one of the greatest comic book series of all time.

Created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, the 66-issue Vertigo series followed Jesse Custer, a small- town preacher imbued with a strange and terrifying power, who travels across America with his hitwoman girlfriend, Tulip, and his Irish vampire best friend, Cassidy. Their aim? To find God for deserting mankind... and kill Him.

Simply crackling with indelible dialogue that out-Tarantinos Tarantino, superbly drawn characters and a storyline that embraces pathos, absurdity, darkness and optimism in equal measure, it's Ennis' masterwork.

But it's also hugely controversial - not just because of the whole 'kill God' thing, but because of Jesse himself. This is a lapsed Preacher - a fightin', drinkin', smokin', swearin' Texas-born'n'raised throwback, a cross between James Dean and Bill Hicks. And the minute this film goes into production, it'll encounter a ****storm that will make what Kevin Smith went through on Dogma look like a walk in the park.

But Mendes should be able to handle all that, and certainly he looks like the right man for the task. He's drawn to projects teeming with emotional and psychological complexity - which Preacher has in spades - and he's gone down the graphic novel route once before, with Road To Perdition.

It'll also make a nice change for him, after his most recent movie, the 50s-set drama, Revolutionary Road. This one has considerably more action - and people with faces like an arse.

Neal Moritz (I Am Legend) and Jason Netter (Wanted) are producing Preacher for Columbia, and are also developing The Boys, also by Ennis, together.

There is no word on casting as yet, although James Marsden was once attached to the role, when Rachel Talalay was set to direct. Most recently, Daredevil director Mark Steven Johnson was trying to set it up as an ongoing series at HBO, but he had no cast attached.

So who should play the Preacher? Based on looks alone, James Franco gets Empire's vote. Yours?

Source

I'd never heard of this before, but the graphic novel sounds really interesting, so I'd quite like to read it! I'm kinda looking forward to the movie already, just because the current vogue for graphic novels to film adaptations have been amazing.

ky02121 · 11-02-2008, 11:55 PM

Sounds interesting.

LucyHyde · 11-20-2008, 08:02 PM

Oh my gosh - I heard about this at least 5 years ago! They'd originally wanted James Marsden for the role of the Preacher but that didn't work out. I'm thrilled they're finally going to make it either way though! I've been waiting so, so long for it. I swear, I thought the idea had been scrapped. I can't remember the last time I was this happy to be wrong about a movie

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