The Cage family and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Comics are collaborating on two comic book thrillers: Enigma and The Sadhu, it was announced today by Sharad Devarajan, Virgin Comics’ CEO.
Virgin Comics will be publishing Enigma, a Voodoo-laced thriller created by the comic book loving father-son duo of 15 year-old Weston Cage and film actor Nicolas Cage.
“My father took an interest in my comic character Enigma so he put me in touch with Gotham Chopra” said Weston Cage. “Together we developed Enigma from my dark imagination. Enigma is a very dark character resurrected by a group of followers of Voodoo, who intend him to be a defender; one to give criminals bad karma early in life, or death. Despite his terrifying appearance that forces readers to believe at first that he is a villain or so called ‘bad guy,’ he is very well-mannered and a gentleman, but a machine full of rage in the heat of the moment. I owe my thanks to Gotham Chopra for his enormous help in getting all my thoughts out about Enigma and of course my outstanding father who is always there for me.”
The Enigma story begins with fiery rebellion on a Southern plantation during the Confederacy, and quickly takes us to the post-Katrina mean streets of New Orleans where a veteran detective is trying to solve a series of murders connected by mysterious historical circumstances.
“Weston has always been a huge inspiration to me,” said Nicolas Cage. “His creativity is fresh, original, and on the pulse of what is happening now. In a world which needs more spiritually-minded superheroes, Weston’s Enigma emerges. I firmly believe in the uniqueness of his story and the possibility of developing a movie from it. We are both thrilled to collaborate with another father and son team in Deepak and Gotham Chopra and look forward to a productive relationship at Virgin Comics.
Enigma will be published as a five part comic book released monthly beginning March 2007. The stories will be collected and republished as a graphic novel for worldwide audiences during fourth quarter 2007.
“It’s especially satisfying to work with such a talented father-son team,” said Gotham Chopra, Virgin Comics’ Chief Creative Officer and son of best selling author, Deepak Chopra. “It’s not easy being a writer and son of a legendary creator. Trust me, I know.”
Virgin Comics and the Cage family have also agreed to collaborate on other projects. Nicolas Cage will develop the lead role of James Jenson in Virgin Comics’ film adaptation of their hit comic series The Sadhu, written and created by Gotham Chopra. The screenplay for the film adaptation will be penned by best-selling author and co-founder of Virgin Comics, Deepak Chopra.
Deepak Chopra added, “‘The Sadhu’ is a story of the dormant potentialities – both divine and diabolical – that exist in all of us. It is also about the struggle between the sacred and the profane within all of us when archetypal energies awaken in our consciousness. As a performer, Nic embodies the soul of these archetypal energies and I can think of no one better to develop this franchise and iconic role.”
“Our highest priority is great storytelling,” said Sharad Devarajan, Virgin Comics’ CEO. “‘The Sadhu’ is a bold, visual epic that taps into one of India’s most heralded spiritual traditions. We couldn’t be more excited to have Nicolas Cage agree to develop the lead part as we prepare to bring ‘The Sadhu’ to film.”
Source: Virgin Comics
