An update on the Preacher movie, now without a director

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s comic PREACHER is easily one of the greatest self-contained stories ever to exist in the format, but it’s been a hard road to feature film.

In the past decade or more, an adaptation was in the works with Rachel Talalay (TANK GIRL) directing, Kevin Smith producing and James Marsden starring. When that languished in the fiery pits of Development Hell, it ultimately resurfaced as a planned HBO series that would theoretically deliver the entire 66-issue run rather than just a condensed version. That fell apart, but Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY, ROAD TO PERDITION) and screenwriter John August (CHARLIE’S ANGELS, most of Tim Burton’s recent output) picked up the pieces for another crack at a movie.

Now producer Neal Moritz (THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS) gives an update to Collider, pointing out that the director’s chair is now unoccupied: “We now have a terrific script that John August wrote. We were originally talking with Sam Mendes about doing the movie. Sam Mendes is going to go off and do the Bond movie, so there’s another director that we’re talking to right now.”

“We’ve got a great script,” Moritz continues. “John August wrote a script that I think is terrific. The hardest thing was with all the books-the Preacher books-was how to distill it down. And what he made the smart decision instead of trying to cram everything into one, there’s plenty of room for 2 or 3 movies. So that’s what he’s done and he’s done a really faithful adaption but made it probably more accessible to a broader audience right now. That movie’s definitely R-rated and it’s an amazing central character.”

Moritz also drops a hint that August himself is keen to direct (he made his debut on the Ryan Reynolds indie THE NINES), but that it’s only a discussion at the moment.

For those unfamiliar, the DC/Vertigo book followed a pugilistic young Texas preacher Jesse Custer, who loses his faith, becomes infused with the power of angel/demon offspring, meets up with his amateur assassin ex-girlfriend Tulip and Irish vampire Cassidy, and sets off on a road trip in order to kick God’s ass. The initial part of the PREACHER run introduces the mismatched trio and begins their bizarre adventures as they encounter various murderers and sodomites, a mangled rocker nicknamed Arseface, the immortal Saint of Killers, and a secret paramilitary organization dedicated to protecting the bloodline of Christ.