Comic Con might be over, but the deals between studios and new comics/graphic novels keep rolling out. Deadline is reporting that Paramount has secured the series rights to Last Man Standing, a 230-page graphic novel that took two and a half years to complete; written and illustrated by Daniel LuVisi.
LuVisi has described LMS as taking “place 600 years in the future ... and is about Gabriel, this invincible soldier, who's been created to help win a war Earth got itself too deep into with Mars. After Gabe wins the war, he comes back down to Earth and is celebrated as this incredible hero ... but then it all takes a quick turn”.
Framed for a crime he did not commit (shocker), Gabe is sent to the toughest prison on Earth called the Level-9 Facility and stays there for 9 years (naturally). Unless Paramount opts to take an Oz style approach to LMS that involves full-frontal male nudity (doubtful), you know what happens next. Gabe escapes and sets out to find the organization that framed him (original).
Deadline reports that Paramount has not only secured the film rights to LMS, but the rights to “develop it as a multiplatform franchise property”. Loaded language considering all the avenues they could take with it.
For certain, there will be a movie involved, of which LuVisi is already attached to produce. LuVisi has stated his intention to create a new series of comics based on his novel, noting how it “sets up the entire universe of the LMS world”. Language like that can be read that LuVisi is looking to build the next franchise universe. He just might, given the reception the novel has gotten (selling out 2 hours after being on sale at Comic Con). Whether such fervor can cross over into mainstream success remains to be seen.
No word on whether or not this “multiplatform franchise property” would include the realm of video games, but given the setting, content and overarching themes of the novel, it would not surprise anybody if LMS did make the transition.
No word yet on whether LuVisi will adapt his own story for the screen or who will direct or appear in the film. But for now, fans have something to pant in anticipation over. The trick for Paramount will be mounting a marketing campaign that incites the non Comic Con crowd. Thankfully for them, they've got plenty of time.
