Whilst doing press for his upcoming film “Away We Go,” Sam Mendes has taken time out to discuss his upcoming adaptation of comic book series, “Preacher.”
Mendes revealed with MTV that progress on the script, which is being scribed by John August (“Big Fish”, “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory”), is coming along nicely. “He’s doing pretty well. He’s about halfway through. There’s a long way to go yet, but I’m very, very hopeful. I think it could be amazing.”
“Preacher” follows the story of a possessed Texas preacher who teams up with a vampire on a quest to find god and hold him accountable for his negligence. The critically acclaimed series by Garth Ennis consists of 75 issues and, subsequently, questions surrounding the film’s franchise potential were asked. “You have to try and get one really good and then, if you’re lucky, you can make a second or a third,” replied Mendes. “You can create something that’s going to run. But I think that there’s certainly more than enough for one good movie and plenty left over.” Mendes seemed particularly excited at the prospect of helming the project commenting that there are “real good roles in there.”
In another interview with Collider, Mendes noted that despite the script’s progress “Preacher,” or any film project for that matter, would have to be on hold until 2010. “I’m going to do two more plays in Brooklyn and they’ll go around the world with my company, The Bridge Project… I won’t be doing a movie until next year at the earliest.”
Will that be ‘Preacher’ though? “If you’re saying ‘am I taking it seriously as an option?’ Absolutely,” he said.
The director also revealed that he knows nothing about the previously planned “Road To Perdition” sequel, “Road To Purgatory,” which was set to be written and directed by Max Allan Collins.