Created by Tim Seeley and Stefano Caselli, the comic book Hack/Slash first hit store shelves in 2004, and it didn't take long for Hollywood to pick up the film rights to the property, which
centers on Cassie Hack, a woman who symbolizes the cliche of the lone girl who survives at the end of every horror movie. However, the emotionally damaged girl not only survived but has become a killer of killers. Along with a burly protector named Vlad, Hack travels across the country hunting slashers in the vein of Halloween's Michael Myers, Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees and A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger.
A film adaptation was first announced in 2006, but while the adventures of Cassie and Vlad have continued on the printed page through multiple one-shots, a couple on-going series, and crossovers with Chucky, Victor Crowley, and Ash Williams, they never made it to the big screen. Screenplays have been written by Justin Marks and Stephen Susco, the project has passed through the hands of directors Todd Lincoln, Fredrik Bond, and Marcus Nispel, but the movie just couldn't get a green light.
Hack/Slash has spent nearly a decade in development hell, but now Relativity is taking a new approach to the material, aiming to turn it into a "dark and gritty" television show in the vein of The Walking Dead.
Skip Woods is writing the television adaptation and will executive produce the series with Adrian Askarieh and Ray Ricord. Daniel Alter and Geoffrey Yim will co-executive produce.
I always wanted to see the movie happen, and in its absence I would be glad to tune in to a TV series and watch Cassie and Vlad crack slasher skulls on a weekly basis. I can't say I've been a fan of Skip Woods' work to date, though. The fact that Hack/Slash is in the hands of the writer behind A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD makes me a bit nervous.