Sam Mendes Talks Preacher - Superhero Hype!

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Sam Mendes Talks Preacher

May 29, 2009

ComingSoon.net talked to Away We Go director Sam Mendes about comic book adaptation Preacher, which he is set to direct from a script by John August at Columbia Pictures. Here's what he said:

CS: I'm personally very interested in the idea of you doing "Preacher" because I was a big fan of "Road to Perdition" and I'm a fan of those comics as well. How's that been progressing in terms of John August developing the script?
Mendes: I think it's an incredible piece of material and I'm very hopeful about John's script, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

CS: Do you have any idea if you're going to try and condense the entire series into one movie or are you going to jump around use portions of it?
Mendes: Oh, he wouldn't do the entire series in one movie. It would be impossible to do all nine volumes in one movie, that would be one long movie, and it wouldn't do justice of it. It will not attempt to do all of it, but there's so much wonderful stuff that I wouldn't know what to leave out.

The Vertigo series, created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, told the story of a down-and-out Texas preacher possessed by Genesis, a supernatural entity conceived by the unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon. Given immense powers, the preacher teamed with an old girlfriend and a hard-drinking Irish vampire and set out on a journey across America to find God -- who apparently had abandoned his duties in heaven -- and hold him accountable for his negligence.

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Posted by: a_kongoman on May 29, 2009 at 09:45:42

Still bitter they're going to make this into a movie. Damn you HBO!!!!!!!!

Posted by: The Flash on May 29, 2009 at 09:45:44

Anyway on a serious note I am looking forward to this seems could be a good film. If done with Indiana Jones as a template

Posted by: starscreamer on May 29, 2009 at 09:48:11

He is a great choice and I look forward to a comic book movie not made by fox, which is the official stamp of doom for any franchise RIP AVP, daredevil, wolverine, F4 etc

Posted by: GreenLantern on May 29, 2009 at 10:08:05

Unless they make this a trilogy of long movies (a la lord of the rings) or perhaps 5-6 movie thing I doubt it'd be any good. There is no way they can compress Preacher into a single movie, at all.

Posted by: prozac-pedro on May 29, 2009 at 10:21:32

hmmmm. Have to think about this one. Whatever they do I hope they keep true to the comic.

Posted by: prozac-pedro on May 29, 2009 at 10:23:11

@ Green Lantern

Im with you. Theres just too much to cram.

Posted by: Rhino on May 29, 2009 at 11:04:19

Sam Mendes people MENDES....He will do a far superior adaptation than any hbo series this isn't brett ratner or mcG this guy can actually make quality movies unless you thought road to perdition or amer. beauty sucked in which case your opinion is garbage anyway and you need to pop dragon wars in the dvd player

Posted by: G on May 29, 2009 at 11:04:31

Um... The dude pretty much says himself that there is no way to get it all in one movie. Try reading the freaking article before posting please. I was a semi fan of this series and look forward to at least a trailer. It would have been better as an HBO series for sure. I think they could squeeze it into 2 2.5 hour movies. It doesn't need to be 12 dang hours like LOTR.

Posted by: Rhino on May 29, 2009 at 11:06:27

maybe Lantern and prozac should actually read article since it clearly says a one movie adaptation isn't in consideration period, can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink

Posted by: phalic symbol on May 29, 2009 at 11:20:21

G That reminds me...I wonder how they can condense the entire series in one movie...

lol

Posted by: jesse on May 29, 2009 at 11:29:18

YA this material is too rich for a movie or even a series of movies. TO do it justice it needs to be an HBO series.

Posted by: G on May 29, 2009 at 11:30:31

Exactly pee pee man.

Still wish HBO would have given the go ahead on this. would be great as a one season series. Has anybody heard anything more on the new HBO Spawn animated that was supposedly in the works? I loved the old one and would love to see more.

Posted by: penandink on May 29, 2009 at 12:36:30

soooo much win, if done right

Posted by: G on May 29, 2009 at 13:16:56

JESUS!!!! READ THE ARTICLE!!!!!!

They are NOT trying to cram it all into one movie. They know it can't be done. Besides, there is more money to be made in a franchise than in one film. Preacher has a huge fan base. This combines elements of western and vampire, which are too very hot commodities. Plus, it's bound to rile the Christian majority, guaranteeing protests that give it all sorts of free press. Silly Christians... Trix are for kids. This film will bank because it has a large fan base and enough appeal to bring in people who aren't familiar with the series.Sure hope they do it up right. Bring on Saint of Killers!!!

Posted by: SilentSoze on May 29, 2009 at 14:34:24

I have every single issue of Preacher. Not the trades, every issue. I love this comic, love the idea of it, love everything about it. It would have been better as an HBO series, and how they can say yes to a show about a dude with too many wives or a show just about vampires (oh how origial is that) they passed on what could've been the next Sopranos. Well atleast its in the hands of Mendes, who will do it justice, and not McG, a dude so proud of his work he needs to go by a fake ass name. Thank god for that atleast.

Posted by: shawn on May 29, 2009 at 14:34:28

i agree wtih starscreamer **** fox

Posted by: cdowg187 on May 29, 2009 at 14:53:01

I don't think Preacher will do well at the box office. Given the subject matter and the fact that we live in a fundamentalist nation. However it would be one of those things that found it's audience eventually. Although if they stick to the original concept, I'd LOOOOVE to see all the *****ing and moaning by the conservative christians and catholics. Theology aside, I love the fact that Garth Ennis had the balls to make, God the bad guy.

Comics will always be superior to any other medium. Because they can do things, movies and television can't do. There is absolutely no limit what so ever to what you can get away with in comics. Preacher is the greatest example of this.

Posted by: mojojackson on May 29, 2009 at 15:17:47

A tv series is not the only way to do Preacher justice, it would simply be the best way. But for that matter, a quality tv series would be the best way to do justice to any comic book adaptation. Mendes is an awesome director who will definitely do justice to the comic, especially since he states above hat he's not going to attempt adapting the whole story into a single film.

cdowg187:

I don't know who told you that we live in a fundamentalist nation (I assume you're American), but that person is your enemy. This is a secular country, depite what Preacher's inevitable critics would have you believe.

Posted by: Andy on May 29, 2009 at 15:43:40

cdowg187 said: "I love the fact that Garth Ennis had the balls to make God the bad guy."

Making God the bad guy means there is no longer any moral foundation to the story and thus no standard by which to judge God. In a universe created by God, the standard of right and wrong exists because the Creator is the source of that standard.

If storytellers make God "the bad guy," then they have thrown the moral standard attached to that God out the window - which means they no longer have any moral basis for judging God in the first place! Such a story is thus philosophically absurd.

Posted by: mojojackson on May 29, 2009 at 16:35:45

Andy:

Morality is not dependent on god. It is a seperate concept. Only those weak in character require belief in god in order to have a moral compass. (That's not to say one who believes in god is weak in character, just that's it's weak if it's the only way they can have a moral compass.) Atheists can be just as moral as a theist and a theist can be just as immoral as an atheist.

Morality does indeed exist independent from the concept of god, so yes, god can be written in a story as a bad guy.

Posted by: Fanboiii on May 29, 2009 at 17:29:14

@mojojackson

There are different kinds of morality. There's spiritual morality which is obviously religious in its determination of good. Then, there's social morality which is based on social values. Any kind of morality depends on what it considers good. Therefore, morality is diverse as different perspectives. Being moral depends on what moral system.

Posted by: Ripclaw on May 29, 2009 at 17:31:55

@a_kongoman:
I'm on the same boat with you.

Posted by: BEN HUR on May 29, 2009 at 17:32:36

Yup, should've been an HBO series. Could've told every inch of the story that way..Could've & should've

Posted by: Bizzaros Garden on May 29, 2009 at 17:57:16

I've always believed that the best way to adapt most of DC Vertigo books into live-action is to make at TV series on HBO or SHOWTIME. However with such an impressive list of recent movies (though I haven't found time to completely finish them), this could be a very good series of films if it can hopefully become a success.

Though I still believe Neil Gaiman's Sandman should be a TV series! I just have a hard time imagining a film that can get as close to the feel of the books as much as a TV series can

Posted by: glenn w. on May 29, 2009 at 17:59:54

movie or HBO show, at least with Mendes as the director, we know this won't be a complete hackjob like it would have been under Mark Steven Johnson.

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