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Tuesday
13Jan2009

Sam Mendes Calls 'Preacher' "Bleakly Blasphemous"

DateTuesday, January 13, 2009 at 2:07PM
Sam Mendes has ventured into comic book territory before, with Road to Perdition, a terribly undervalued film in my opinion. And in October, it was announced that he's leaning towards another comic book property, the twisted religious/supernatural Vertigo imprint classic, Preacher.

It's not the easiest comic series in the world to make into a movie, evidenced by its ten-year development maze it has endured since the rights were first purchased by Electric Entertainment. Electric then recruited Kevin Smith and View Askew to help move it from page to screen, and Smith in turn brought it to the attention of the Weinsteins. Several years and incarnations later, James Marsden was cast as the lead, Jesse Cutter, but that version of the film never took off.

Then about three years ago, HBO announced it was hot to do a series, based on a pilot script written by Mark Steven Johnson. Last year, the cable channel decided to walk away from the idea. And now, Sam Mendes and Columbia will start from scratch, which is a pretty good fifth or sixth option for Preacher, don't you think?

But Mendes told MTV this weekend that he's not 100% positive he will direct it. "Whether or not I have the skill to make it into a movie, I don't know. I'm not very good at developing projects; I need to read the script," said the Oscar-winning director. "Once the script is there, then I'll know whether I want to do it or not."

But why is the prospect of Preacher so appealing?

“It’s a gripping story, fantastic characters, great visual landscape. It mixes supernatural and real worlds brilliantly… it’s funny, and it’s absolutely, bleakly blasphemous, possibly even sacrilegious I would say. Which might be a dangerous thing to take on.”

Mendes didn't give a date he's looking at to receive and review the script, but he's one of the few filmmakers who can completely work at his own pace. After not making a film for several years, he worked back-to-back on Revolutionary Road and the comedy Away We Go. He's also attached to two future projects as a director, but there's a huge window for him in 2011 if he decides to take this project on.

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AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment2 Comments |

Reader Comments (2)

If the watchmen can be done , anything can be done

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterPsyko Tek

I think it can be done as a movie and I am excited about it. However, I think it would work better as a series. HBO was a fantastic idea and I was pleased at the time it was announced, then sad that it never happened.

Watchmen is one story with a beginning and an ending. Preacher lasted seventy-five issues, with all different kinds of story arcs. So condensing it down to one film would definately not do the whole thing justice. I want to see Arseface, and telling only one Preacher story would probably not include him.

I have no problem with Mendes tackling the material on the other hand.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMRPigg

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