If you’ve never read Garth Ennis’ critically acclaimed comic PREACHER, I implore you to stop whatever you’re doing and correct that error. Then come back here, read this news, and pull your hair out at the the idea that it could be a goddamned movie already.
During a press junket for FRANKENWEENIE, screenwriter John August was pressed about the state of the project. With some palpable frustration, August told all:
“This is what I can say about Preacher- it’s a project I would love to see happen; it is something that could be greenlit at some time but honestly, it won’t be any time soon. There’s no one in the world that wants to see this movie happen more than me because I’m such a huge fan of this character and this world.”
“Preacher is a great frustration because I thought it was done, and then it got put in the press notes for the [Frankenweenie] junket and everyone started asking about it again. Preacher could be filmed, at any point. It’s sort of ready to go, but it’s lacking a green light. At some point, that green light might come, but it may never come. So, I have to allow for the fact that I’ve done everything I can, and whatever happens with it, happens with it.”
For those not in the know, PREACHER is about Jesse Custer, a small town man of the cloth who finds himself possessed with a supernatural entity called Genesis. With newfound abilities that rival those of God himself, Custer goes on a roadtrip across the country seeking Him. His journey is accompanied by an old girlfriend and a hard drinking Irish vampire. Along the way they encounter criminals, angels of death, serial killers, and all sorts of other adversaries. So yeah, it’s a hard “R” by default…
Hence, you can probably understand PREACHER has been in development for what seems like forever, having seen talent like Darren Aronofsky, DJ Caruso, Kevin Smith, Mark Steven Johnson and Rachel Talalay come and go. While its content is controversial and its history is sordid, maybe the studios will come to their senses and go ahead with August’s draft sooner than later. After all someone decided to mention in the press junket notes, right? Right. Fingers crossed…