Best-selling author Naoki Urasawa has seen his manga comic book MONSTER picked up by New Line Cinema for development. Should make for an interesting transition to the big screen. The story concerns a young doctor who saves the life of a little boy only to find out a few years later that the life he saved was that of a brilliant killer. The doctor must then track down the young killer and solve a larger conspiracy.
I’m down with that. This project will definitely pose some challenges though. While comics are certainly ripe for filmic interpretation, even adult comics like SIN CITY, we are talking about starting with a 4000 page story. In addition, there are many who feel the story itself is largely non-sensical and anti-climactic at the end.
Now perhaps this was picked up by someone with a passion and vision for it, in which case this could be awesome! Or perhaps it got picked up based on hype and will lead some poor staff writer to develop a massive ulcer. Either way, good luck to any studio willing to look at something epic and unwieldy that’s not LORD OF THE RINGS.