The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Columbia is adding a film version of 1990's comic book Preacher to its slate. Not only that, but they are bringing in Sam Mendes to direct. This is very interesting news and an unlikely directorial candidate.
For those of you not familiar with Preacher, it was published by DC under their Vertigo banner. The series was created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. It was controversial due to its subject matter, which will surely cause some interesting conflicts on its path to the big screen.
Preacher told the story of Jesse Custer, a down-and-out Texas preacher possessed by Genesis, a supernatural entity conceived by the unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon. The possesion results in the death of his entire congregation and destruction of his church. He is joined by an ex-girlfriend and a drunken Irish vampire on a journey across the United States in a literal search for God, whom he intends to confront for his absenteeism.
This definitely sounds like a fascinating source for a film. Sam Mendes seems an odd choice, but when you look at his track record, he is good with character driven pieces with films such as American Beauty, Road to Perdition, and Jarhead.
The announcement comes on the heels of news that a proposed HBO series based on the comic fell through. Not to mention a View Askew (Kevin Smith's company) production that would have seen James Marsden in the lead. Actually, he probably wouldn't be a bad choice. Although, I think Guy Pearce would do the role justice as well.
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