Amber To Bring STRONGHOLD Comic To The Big Screen

Even despite the tendency to reboot or reshoot the same comic book properties over and over again at the minute, some smaller properties are finding space for adaptation beside their massive siblings (though some with far greater success than others it has to be said).

Variety are today confirming that Amber Entertainment are teaming up with 2000 AD's parent company Rebellion Publishing arm to bring Paul Finch's medieval zombie comic 'Stronghold' to the big screen, with Rebellion's video-game director Jason Kingsley helming the Tom Fickling script in his first feature film outing.

Just released in August by the company's genre imprint Abaddon Books, 'Stronghold' centres on a young English knight sent to recapture a castle from Welsh rebels who employ druidism magic to summon an undead army - a similar storyline employed recently in the quickly-becoming-a-bit-shit 'Marvel Zombies 5', which put 'Machine Man' and 'Howard the Duck' inside a castle stormed by zombies to pretty lame effect.

'Stronghold's' hero must defy his masters and rescue the daughter of his enemy while battling the risen dead- a good old fashioned Romeo, Juliet and Brain-Munchers style deal.

The film is seen as the first in a link-up between Amber and 2000AD, with presumably more films to follow (but not a Judge Dredd since DNA Films have the rights to the upcoming Karl Urban reboot) and personally I believe they could do worse than to look at 'American Gothic' for their next project. It will at least stick with the supernatural Western theme that 'Stronghold' riffs on, albeit in a medieval setting.

Good news all round, though you have to wonder how filmic any adaptation led by Jason Kingsley will be, considering his two-decade long association with video-game directing. But then, hang on- it's going to be a film about zombies and castles- perhaps those concerns have no place here anyway!