Sam Mendes is a Preacher man

As close as a Preacher film has been to getting made, it's always seemed like a prayer that would never be answered.  It's not that the cross-country, nihilistic, confrontational comic book couldn't be filmed, but more that given its content, a studio would have to be pretty insane to throw up the kind of money it would take to do it right. But then, the same thing was said about Watchmen, a similarly dense and literate comic, so who's to say what gets greenlighted these days.

Columbia Pictures announced in The Hollywood Reporter that it's producing Preacher  with director Sam Mendes. While best known for the Academy Award-winning American Beauty, Mendes also previously adapted the comic book Road to Perdition, a very faithful adaptation that was also one of the year's most beautiful pictures.  Even though he's currently back to the world of suburban angst, Mendes' recent work has proven his ability to direct intense action sequences.

Preacher is being produced by Neal Moritz (I Am Legend). No word of the budget, but its production under a major studio should mean it gets whatever it needs. It's probably a long way towards production, given that there's still no screenplay and Mendes still has a few other projects on the backburner, so don't expect to see this anytime next year. 

Related links:
News: Watch the trailer for Revolutionary Road
News: Krasinski/Rudolph to star in Mendes/Eggers project
Paste's Art House Powerhouse 100

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.