Johnson confirms adaptation’s death
God does not want you to see a live-action Preacher adaptation. Not in theaters. Not on television. We’re almost convinced of this now.
Vertigo’s surly comic book series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon – about a preacher, after being possessed by a powerful force (the offspring of an angel and a demon), who sets off to find God – has traded many hands in its own long journey to the screen. Then, around the time Ghost Rider was coming out, it was announced director Mark Steven Johnson was turning Preacher into an HBO series. Perfect, right?
Wrong. HBO’s new top dog didn’t jive with the idea, it seems. Taking issue with the series’ dark themes, he canned the project. “It was a very faithful adaptation of the first few books, nearly word for word,” Johnson tells Comics Continuum. “They offered me the chance to redevelop it but I refused. I’ve learned my lesson on that front and I won’t do it again. So I’m afraid it’s dead at HBO.”
Johnson adds that he’s heard rumblings someone else is eyeing to snatch up the rights to Preacher for big screen potential.
HBO is responsible for Six Feet Under (rather grim stuff) and begins airing the vampire series True Blood beginning next month. The latter, however, was greenlit under the old HBO head.
Source: Comics Continuum
