More tidbits about that Preacher movie has surfaced on the nets. The news comes from Newsarama via Variety that John August will be handling the screenplay.
What's on John Augusts resume? Let's take a look:
Charlie's Angels (uh oh) Minority Report - uncredited rewrite (I don't blame him for wanting to be uncredited) Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (uh oh, pt. II) The Rundown - uncredited rewrite (with The Rock?!) Big Fish (ok, that's not bad) Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (fuck guys, we might be in trouble here)
Well, at least Newsarama is keeping a positive attitude. Oh wait:
"In the "things that make you go huh?" category, the trade describes the project as: centers on the preacher of a Texas town who is struggling to get by and is driven only by his strong moral sense. When the city is decimated by an otherworldly force, he embarks on a journey across the country to take on the evil. It's unclear if that's the studio's description of the storyline, or Variety's, but in either case it's...different than what was in the comics, as the years long storyline kicked off when Jesse Custer, a small-town Texas Preacher was imbued with the Voice of God during a church service, and the members of his congregation were killed. This kicks off a cross-country and ultimatley worlds wide search for God, physical rather than metaphorical."
What the shit is going on here? Listen Hollywood- you can fuck up Superman. You can make a shitty Spider-Man sequel. You can play grab ass with Marvel characters like Daredevil and Ghost Rider all day long. But do not- DO NOT - fuck with Preacher.
Consider yourself on notice.
P.S. At least Sam Mendes is still listed as director. We can cling to that for the time being.
Preacher is one of the great comic book stories of our time. If you haven't read it June 24th is a great time to start, as they will be releasing the first twelve issues collected for the first time in a hardcover format.
I'm sure these will look beautiful, but my bookshelf would look so much more badass if DC / Vertigo would release Absolute Editions. Maybe someday!
The deets:
PREACHER BOOK ONE HC Written by Garth Ennis Art by Steve Dillon Cover by Glenn Fabry
“Features more blood and blasphemy than any mainstream comic in memory. Cool.” — Entertainment Weekly
Available for the first time in hardcover, preacher Jesse Custer begins his dark journey to find God, in this volume collecting PREACHER #1-12, plus pinups from PREACHER #50 and #66. After merging with a bizarre spiritual force called Genesis, Texan preacher Jesse Custer has become completely disillusioned with the beliefs to which he had dedicated his entire life. Now possessing the power of “the word,” an ability to make people do whatever he utters, Custer begins a violent and riotous journey across the country. Joined by his gun-toting girlfriend Tulip and the hard-drinking Irish vampire Cassidy, Custer loses faith in both God and man as he witnesses dark atrocities and improbable calamities during his exploration of America. This new collected edition features an all-new introduction by series writer Garth Ennis.
Advance-solicited; on sale June 24 • FC, 352 pg, $34.99 US • Mature Readers
(This was originally pointed out to me by the fine people over at CBR)
Empire Online spoke with Sam Mendes about the recent news that he's the latest name (in a long list of names) that have been tasked with making a Preacher movie:
“It's brilliant, it's an incredible twisted vision,” he said of the 66-issue story. “There's so much of it you couldn't possibly fit it all into one movie. It's just about what you keep and what you leave out, and how you structure the story. But just to have that toy set again, being able to paint on a big canvas and to say ‘I am gonna do crazy crane shots and massive action sequences again because I want to,’ it's exciting..”
Crazy crane shots nonwithstanding, I gotta say I'm a purist when it comes to this one. Even though Garth Ennis himself apparently isn't that concerned about staying 100% faithful to the original comic, this is one I would like to see exactly the same as it is in print. I don't think Hollywood should be trusted with what's expendable when it comes to my favorite comic series.
The good news is Mendes doesn't even have a script yet, so this will probably never get made. I remember far enough back when Kevin Smith was going to direct this and have Ben Affleck star.
If they could just go back to the HBO idea it would all be ok.
Then again, if they are set on making a feature length movie out of this they need to let Garth write the script. The chances of it sucking go down at least 75%.
Posts
