2. Preacher
Garth Ennis Preacher seems like the perfect recipe for a grungy movie adaptation and its really surprising that one hasnt been made already. The comics main story arc revolves around Jesse Custer, a small town preacher who gets possessed by a mystical creature called Genesis. Genesis was the offspring of a demon and an angel and the end result was half pure evil and half pure good, a deadly combination which could create enough power to rival even God. Jesse thus finds himself as potentially the most powerful being on earth. Along with his old girlfriend Tulip and a drunken Irish vampire called Cassidy, Jesse sets out across America to find God, who is AWOL after bolting from Heaven when Genesis was born. Preacher has long been revered by comic book fans and is easily one of Vertigos biggest ever series. Jesse is a superb central character who fights for what he believes in and looks out for those he cares about. Jesses comrades Tulip and Cassidy are also incredibly eccentric and memorable, but its the rogues gallery of depraved reprobates they meet on the road which make the stories so wonderfully dark. Its fair to say that the central premise of a rogue Preacher seeking to find God and chastise him for the mess he has created, may be the source of some controversy, but it really makes for an engrossing and visually stunning comic.
How Close Is It To Being Made?: The religious satire has already proven a hindrance to getting a movie adaptation started. Attempts were made back in the late 90s with Ennis teaming up with Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier to try and get the film greenlit by the Weinsteins at Miramax, but to no avail. Ennis has found it hard to find any studio or backer willing to fund such a controversial movie and the closest it came to being made was in 2002 when Chris Marsden was cast in the lead role, but ultimately this was abandoned due to budgetary concerns. HBO ordered a pilot be made ready for a TV series, with Ennis involved in the script writing, but this again was eventually abandoned with HBO deciding the subject matter was just too controversial. It would appear that a movie is once again in development though with director D.J. Caruso, he of Disturbia and I am Number 4 fame, confirming on his twitter that he is to direct a Preacher movie at some point in the future. No word on any concrete details yet but a 2014 release date is pencilled in on IMDB.
Casting: Theres any number of great actors who would be great in the role of conflicted hero Jesse Custer and who would really bring something of their own to the part. My first thought was Josh Brolin, who can combine the laid back charm with the blistering intensity when required, but he may still be a bit reluctant after the whole Jonah Hex debacle and may just run a mile from any comic book movie. My thoughts therefore turned to Guy Pearce, an actor who proved in The Proposition that he can do grim and grimy outlaw to a tee and has proved throughout his career that he can portray determined tough men as well as deceptive quite ones. For the role of Tulip Ill go with Blake Lively who proved in The Town that she can give good feisty and would have no problem taking care of herself in some redneck bar. That and she is crazy hot of course. For the role of drunken lrish rogue, I thought Id really go left field and go for Colin Farrell. Now as predictable as it sounds, there are few actors who do despicable charm as well as Colin, and hes done plenty of action movies before to train him for Cassidys edgier moments.
Suggested by Robert Keeling