John August Writing Preacher, Frankenweenie

Published by Jeff Leins on: January 23rd, 2009

Earlier this month, screenwriter John August lamented the stalled adaptation of Captain Marvel’s comic book story, Shazaam! It’s tough to see months of work be shelved and forgotten, despite the sizable paycheck that came along, he said.

At the time, August admitted he was already writing a new project; one he would have had to pass on if Shazaam! had dragged any further.  It turns out that new script was a fresh adaptation of the comic book series Preacher, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The plot centers on the preacher of a Texas town who is struggling to get by and is driven only by his strong moral sense. When the city is decimated by an otherworldly force, he embarks on a journey across the country to take on the evil.

The religiously controversial story was once in the hands of director Kevin Smith in 1999.  It then moved to an independent production in 2002, where it laid around for years with actor James Marsden attached.  After it was abandoned, HBO announced a TV series from the comics in 2006, but later (Aug 2008) also abandoned it based on the same dark, anti-religion message.

It appears Columbia Pictures isn’t worried about the backlash.  It purchased the rights in October 2008 and hired director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) to oversee.  August was hired shortly after to write the script.  “To answer your first four questions: there’s no release date, no cast, no locations, no nothing. I’m writing a script which could become a movie if everything lines up correctly. So here’s hoping. It’s a terrific project that I’m excited to be writing,” August wrote on his blog.

It seems they are scrapping the long floated script from before, so maybe they’re toning down the blasphemous message.  I personally haven’t read the comic book series, but I’m a fan of Mendes and August.  Everyone seems genuinely excited about the movie possibility, but with cautious optimism due to its 10 year development.

John August will also be collaborating with Tim Burton for the fifth time on Frankweenie, Burton’s latest stop-motion animation feature.  According to the trades, Burton will only serve as producer, not co-director like he was on Corpse Bride.  Frankweenie, expected sometime in 2011, is a 3-D remake of his own 1984 live-action movie about a dog brought back from the dead.

Not sure why we need a stop-motion version of the same movie, but people can’t seem to get enough of choppy animation and Burton together.