Fans of the 1995 Vertigo comic Preacher know the film adaptation of the cult comic hit has long been in developmental limbo since Columbia Pictures picked up the film rights and brought Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, American Beauty) to direct. Unfortunately, due to a lack of momentum moving the movie forward, Mendes dropped out of the project to pursue the next Bond film, which is another story. Now, executive producer Neil Moretz tells Total Film magazine that the project is moving forward with a new, unnamed director.
The official plot synopsis from the graphic novel states that “the story follows an ex-preacher man, Jesse, who has become disgusted with God’s abandoning of His responsibilities. So Jesse starts off into the wilds of Texas with his hitman girlfriend and new best friend (a vampire) to find God so that he can give Him a piece of his mind”.
Often times there are many comparisons between the character of Jesse and comic hero Constantine, who took film form back in 2005. Both tackle religious themes and topics and both are disillusioned with the powers that be. The difference is Jesse and his world are a lot more demented than that of Constantine. Moretz is well aware that the subject matter of Preacher is intense and swears the film will be a “hard R” movie, that will “tone down” over “dumbing down.”
All of this is well except Moretz seems to be the only public face to the Preacher project that has knowledge of the director's identity and refuses to share. Is it a tease? Is it a build up? Let's see some casting news or concept art and we'll go from there.
