Jamie Foxx to Star in Todd McFarlane’s Spawn Reboot for Blumhouse Productions

Oscar winner Jamie Foxx is set to star in the Spawn reboot that is scripted and will be directed by the creator of Spawn himself, Todd McFarlane, per Deadline. It is being made for Blumhouse Films and will mark McFarlane’s directorial debut—the script is a direct adaptation of the Spawn comic book series. When penning the script, McFarlane had Foxx in mind, as they had previously discussed the idea of Foxx taking up the role of Spawn. McFarlane said this of Jamie Foxx: “I never forgot him, and when I was writing this script, you sort of plug people in, and he was my visual guy and I never let go of him.”

McFarlane, besides the casting of Foxx, has many an idea for the Spawn reboot. He knows it will be dark and receive a hard R rating, but he also wants it to be simple in that he expects the film will cost no more $12 million to make. He is also keen not to have it be an origin story. Based on what he says in the Deadline report, the Spawn movie will start in media res, explaining next to nothing about the character’s powers and his origins. McFarlane wants viewers to question who Spawn is, what he is and why he is. His inspirations range from the filmography of John Carpenter to the thought-provoking Jacob’s Ladder, where reality and unreality existed on the same textural plane, and the idea of a single temporal plane did not exist. McFarlane expects the reboot to challenge his most devout fans and to win over his harshest critics.

If the Spawn reboot is the physical and visual embodiment of a nightmare, then the 1997 live-action adaptation of Spawn is a literal nightmare of failed proportions. McFarlane wants to right that wrong in the realm of live-action filmmaking. Spawn’s heyday was very much in the 1990s, though, so it’ll be up to cinema-goers to decide if Spawn has anything to say—well, shoot—anymore. Production has yet to begin, but the project is all but a reality at this point. There is no set release date but an Spawn adaptation, in our current moment, could be something genuinely scary and oddly special, or, like its predecessor, it could be a colossally miscalculated misfire. Only time will tell; until then, cautious optimism is advised.

On being cast as Spawn, Foxx said, “…I told him no one would work harder than me if given the opportunity … well … the opportunity is here!! I’m humbled and ready to transform … ”