[ad_1]
Though initially eyeing the chair for himself, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane confirms he won’t be directing the Jamie Foxx reboot movie. The supernatural antihero first made his way to the big screen with the 1997 Spawn movie starring Michael Jai White as former soldier-turned-assassin Al Simmons as he is killed and sent to Hell, though accepts a deal from one of its rulers, Malebogia, to become his eternal servant Spawn to return to Earth and see his wife. The film garnered largely negative reviews from critics, with White and co-star John Leguizamo disowning the film.
McFarlane recently caught up with ComicBook.com‘s Chris Killian for the latest episode of his That’s Collectibles Show, during which he discussed the ongoing development of the Spawn reboot movie. While teasing that there are “multiple A-list” performers yet to be announced for the film, the comic book creator did confirm that he would not be directing the reboot, as whatever studio picks it up is unlikely to want “a first-time director.” See what McFarlane explained in the comments and video below:
My original plan has gotten tripped up a bit. You deal with a lot, given Hollywood. None of that should be surprising. But, you start bringing on A-list people. And we’re bringing on A-list people. Not just one, but multiple A-list people. And, it’s going to continue to grow. You’re going to sell it to a studio, and then it’s going to grow some more. What they’re not going to want is to do a cheap, low-budget movie with all of these big name people on it. That’s not why they’re signing up. They’re not looking for a big extravaganza. But, they’re also not looking for an eight million dollar horror movie budget. Then, the piece that I have to be realistic about is, once someone says yes, we take all these people and a decent amount of money, there’s the chance that they buy multiple movies up-front. They’re not going to want a first time director. That’s the piece, if I got one craw in me, that’s it. If I’m the CEO, if I’m practical about it, I wouldn’t take that deal either… They’re going to have a lot at risk, because of the deal we cut with them. They’re going to want to get it back, they’re going to want to get a professional director… I knew that was part of the reality.
The Spawn Reboot’s Long Journey To Get Made
Plans for a new Spawn movie have been in the works for 25 years, with the idea to initially produce a sequel to the 1997 movie that would focus on iconic supporting characters Sam and Twitch while the eponymous antihero would act as a background player. McFarlane later took to mounting plans for a proper Spawn reboot movie, with the creator writing the script and calling it a “standalone story” that will tap into the horror and R-rated tone of his comics.
The past decade has seen a number of smaller steps made towards the Spawn movie getting off the ground, with Jamie Foxx trying to star as early as 2013 before eventually signing on in early 2018 and Jeremy Renner at one point in talks to star as Twitch, while Blumhouse Productions were on to produce and McFarlane set to direct. The time since has seen a variety of starts and stops for the project, with Brian Tucker, Scott Silver, Malcolm Spellman and Matthew Nixon all brought on for rewrites of McFarlane’s script, with Foxx still retained as its lead.
McFarlane’s seeming confirmation that he won’t be directing the Spawn reboot movie may come as a surprise given his initial plans for such. However, with his recent comments assuring that they’re looking to match the success of Todd Phillips’ Joker and indicating they have yet to land a proper studio to produce it, it will be interesting to see if the comic creator indeed passes the reins off to another filmmaker or if he’s given the chance to make his directorial debut.
Source: ComicBook.com
[ad_2]
Source link
