After receiving an underwhelming 1997 live action feature adaptation (pictured above) and a well regarded animated series that ran for three seasons, Todd McFarlane's comic book creation SPAWN is coming back to the screen, and this time McFarlane will be writing and directing the live action feature himself.
For a while now, McFarlane has been letting the world know that the title character won't actually be the lead in the film. Rather, the film will be following Jeremy Renner in the role of homicide detective Maximilian "Twitch" Williams III, while Spawn (set to be played by Jamie Foxx) will have a presence in the film similar to that of the shark in JAWS. The idea being that he'll be more effective in sporadic doses.
Now the folks over at SuperBroMovies claim to have found out details on the plot, letting us know what Twitch will be up to as he carries us through the film:
… the movie will focus on NYPD detective Twitch after he loses his daughter to gang violence. He then begins his quest for revenge by enlisting the help of his ex-partner Danny to aid in his investigation of the criminal factions in New York. Twitch quickly realizes he’s in over his head as he learns that two of the largest organizations are teaming up to take over the criminal underworld of the city.
That’s where Spawn comes in. Twitch is visited by Al, a mysterious man who has knowledge of his daughter’s death. It quickly becomes clear that Al is not who he appears to be as he reveals himself to be Spawn, a messenger from Hell who can aid Twitch in his search for justice.
That sounds pretty good to me.
SPAWN doesn't have a production start date yet, last we heard the project was still seeking funding and a distributor, but I'm hoping that we'll be hearing some good news about this one very soon.
McFarlane is producing the film alongside Blumhouse Productions. When it does get going, it's expected to have a budget in the range of 10 to 12 million and will be aiming for an R rating.