Todd McFarlane is finally ceding control of the next Spawn film, following five years of development hell trying to make it himself.
With the recent completion of production on the reimagining of The Crow, perhaps this marks a moment for reboots of half-forgotten dark-toned comic book reboots. Whilst the second coming of Spawn has been in the works anywhere near as long as The Crow, it has still been at least five years since the project was announced.
Todd Macfarlane, the creator of the character has remained steadfastly committed to writing and directing the film himself throughout that time, dragging the project through development hell. Jamie Foxx, who has been attached to the project for a significant portion of its lifespan, was talking up its chances in August, even though many of us assumed by that point that he’d moved on to other things.
Whilst the project is clearly still years away, there does at least seem to be some movement, with McFarlane finally deciding to relinquish control. As such, three writers have been drafted in to begin a fresh script.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Silver, the writer behind Joker, Malcolm Spellman, the creator of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier and emerging writer Matt Mixon are teaming up to create a fresh script for the project which is currently situated at Blumhouse.
McFarlane has briefly commented on electing to step away from the process, saying “if we’ve got an A-list actor, A-list producers, A-list writers, then do you want to shoot for A-list directors, A-list cinematographers? The answer is of course. Let’s keep the momentum going.”
McFarlane has spoken in the past about not getting the first screenplay for this reimagining right, and the creator’s reluctance to secure the film anything less than a theatrical release has been reported to be another sticking point along the way. However, with some prestigious comic book adaptation talent now at work on the script, that may in turn attract a heavyweight director and along with Foxx’s involvement, could finally tip the scales in the film’s favour.
Let’s hope that McFarlane, Foxx and their team of writers can finally get the film moving this time and bring a version of Spawn to the screen that the character and creator deserve. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more on this one.
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