The Boys Creator Adapting His Most Offensive Comic Into Horror Movie
Garth Ennis is ready to adapt another one of his comics. The Boys and Preacher creator has written a screenplay adaptation of his comic Crossed, which will be made into a feature-length movie. Indie studio Six Studios nabbed the screenplay and plans to finance and back the film.
The Dark And Disturbing Crossed
The Crossed movie will follow the comics where the world is hit by a pandemic that causes the afflicted to be marked with a cross-shaped rash on their face. Those who have this disease have the uncontrollable urge to act on their most evil thoughts.
Instead of the zombies you usually see in these types of stories, people who get these diseases can still retain a basic level of human intellect that allows them to use weapons, use vehicles, set traps, and generally do anything to further their goals of acting on their worst impulses.
Another Hard-R
Undoubtedly, the Crossed movie is going to get the R-rating, as it is just as controversial as Ennis’ other projects, if not more so. As you might expect from the description, the infected individuals in the series are sadistic, and murder, rape, maiming, torture, and cannibalism are prominent throughout the entire series. The series is also quite long at this point, with nearly 200 issues, webcomics, and even a spin-off series initially penned by Alan Moore.
Based On The First Few Issues
Although there is plenty of material for the Crossed movie to pull on, the screenplay is reportedly based on the original ten issues of the series that were published in the late 2000s. Now that Ennis has already completed the script, Six Studios is moving on to the next step of hiring a director for the project. The reports say that the director hire is expected to be in the $2 to $3 million range as far as the budget goes, with Six Studios willing to increase the range if the right director is interested.
Starting Pre-Production
The Crossed movie is likely going to find its director sooner than later, as the report also says that Six Studios wants to kick off production in the Fall. Carl Choi of Six Studios is producing the project alongside Ben Hung of Retro Entertainment and Ken Levin of Nightsky Productions. Jeff Huang of Six Studios is on board as executive producer, along with Ennis, Carl Amari, and Bill Patterson.
A Faithful Adaptation This Time Around
According to Choi, the Crossed movie is “the most faithful adaptation possible,” which fans of Ennis will note is a different approach from Ennis’ most recent successful adaptation. Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys has been a massive success for Amazon and Ennis, and the series frequently veers away from the events of the comics to better fit its own story. The Boys is set to wrap up its run for good with its upcoming fifth and final season, though there are other spin-offs on the way to keep the franchise going strong.
It remains to be seen if the Crossed movie can reach the same level of success as The Boys. As mentioned, there’s plenty of material to adapt with all the issues that are out, so it could easily become a franchise, too. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated when we learn more about this project.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
