Chloe Moretz is adding another iconic role to her already crowded career, signing on to play the title character in Universal’s take on counterculture figure Emily the Strange.
After the rescuing the rights from Fox, where it was largely Emily the stagnant, Dark Horse Entertainment has been trying to get a film based on the character together for a couple of years now after making a big announcement in 2008 and raising more awareness at that year's Comic-Con. And, coincidentally, the first time Moretz really considered the role was at this year’s event, where she met Emily’s creator, skateboarder Rob Reger.
While Reger didn’t plan for Emily to become such a smash hit with the low-key Goth/Hot Topic crowd (she was originally just one of lots of designs he was printing to adorn stickers, boards and T-shirts back in the early 90s), the image caught on to such a degree that she became a sensation and made millions for Reger’s Cosmic Debris company.
Universal just grabbed the rights from Dark Horse, which has a first-look deal with the studio, and the Emily film will now go into active development. While there’s no writer or director formally attached just yet, the Hollywood Reporter mentions that the plot will chart the punk Goth girl’s origins and that of her four cats.
We can see it now – the Chloe Moretz icon series to inspire young girls: Hit Girl, Emily and primal, blood-sucking Abby from Let Me In…