It’s been many years since Michael Jai White dawned the cape of hell as Spawn, but the wait for the character’s return may be approaching soon. Reports recently from Todd McFarlane have stated that a new script is currently being drafted and there is a lot of pressure to get the story finished. What’s exciting though, is we might finally get our first true gritty adaptation of Spawn which honors the HBO series. 
McFarlane suggests the new film is tackling a minimalist approach, rather than a high budget one. Much in the same vein as The Conjuring as a supernatural thriller. Here is the quote below:
“It’s a ten-million-dollar, R-rated supernatural movie that takes all the superhero stuff out of it. So for people who want to go see an IRON MAN redo, that’s not it. For people who like THE CONJURING, then it’s going to be right up that alley. This is just going to be The Departed and L.A. Confidential with a ghost moving around in it.”
Sounds pretty legit! Question is, can McFarlane make it work? Back in 1997, even he admits the first film suffered from limitations of its time.
” I mean, we had a first-time producer, first-time director, first time I was involved, and so we did as good as we could, given the inexperience that we had. So I thought on a scale of one to ten, it was a five. It probably would have done better if it had come out in the midst of all the superhero stuff, because we were sort of a little bit ahead of the curve, and some of the special effects weren’t quite up to the standards that they are right now, so it was what it was. I wasn’t in charge. Would I have made some changes? Absolutely. I made a deal where I let other people do it. So the next one will be the small-budget one.”
The new take on Spawn is also said to have a new actor on-board for the lead role of Al Simmons. That man as we previously reported, is Jamie Foxx. Even the actor himself mentioned during Comic-Con that he was “aggressively pursuing” the role.
“You know, Jamie was out at my office. I thought we were going to keep it on the q.t. I’ve talked to some pretty high-profile actors. I think he’s just putting the pressure on me to get the script done. So I sold him on my pitch. I go, “Here, I’ve got an idea that could keep you in the SPAWN movies for twenty years, but it can’t be about physicality. It has to be more about a little bit of acting and then this specter, this sentinel, that moves around in an otherwise hard drama movie.”
I like the approach McFarlane is considering for the next film. If it is a 10 million dollar budget film, I don’t see the studios wasting any time on pulling the trigger. Add the casting of Jamie Foxx and you basically have a $10 million guaranteed hit on your hands. Here is hoping audiences are more willing to embrace this reboot than they were with Dredd.
The Spawn reboot still is awaiting a release date but is rumored for late 2014. Todd McFarlane is expected to direct the film once the camera rolls!
Source: AssignmentX
