DJ Caruso is the director of** Disturbia**,** Two for the Money, Eagle Eye **and, most recently, I Am Number Four. He's also the man set to helm the film adaptation of writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon's seminal graphic novel series, Preacher, but it's not clear when that'll actually happen. Still, Caruso is keen to reassure fans that plans are still ongoing.
"I’m still attached to Preacher and we’re wrestling with Sony because I got another movie at Sony called Invertigo, which is a big action film we’re trying to get going this summer," Caruso told IAmRogue.com.
"So Preacher got put on the back burner, but we’re still involved with Preacher and hopefully we’ll have some good news on that soon. John August [not 'Todd' as some are reporting - ed.] wrote a great script. I think it’s one of those features that has to kind of go through the studio system if it’s going to be made for a certain price. So we’re kind of revisiting a way to approach making the movie in the right way."
It sounds like Team Preacher are experiencing similar problems as Team Deadpool. To do the original source material justice, it needs to be a hard-R, but making hard-R "comic book adaptations" is an increasingly difficult proposition, especially considering Kick-Ass 2's recent disappointment at the box office. If you've read the in-depth Riddick feature in the latest issue of** Empire**, you'll also know how hard it can be even if you've got two previous movies in an established franchise under your belt.
For those not in the know, Preacher sees Texan pastor Jesse Custer bonded with the half-angel, half-demon known as Genesis after his church (and congregation) are flattened by its plummet to earth. This gives Custer the ability to use the Word of God to command anyone who can hear him, which provides several interesting moments as he goes on the road to find God (who's gone AWOL). Joining him on his adventures are hard-drinking Irish vampire Cassidy and Custer's deadshot ex-girlfriend Tulip O'Hare.
It's encouraging to hear that John August's script is finished (and "great" of course). Considering his previous work - Charlie's Angels,** Go**,** Frankenweenie**,** Big Fish **- it's clear he's got the sideways look the project will require, and that he's got form in adapting other people's ideas.
The other pleasing part of what Caruso has to say is that he's aware that the film will need plenty of money to work. Preacher begins with an exploding church and only gets bigger from there, so it's not a film that'll work with an indie budget. Just the prosthetics for character of Arseface (yes, really) will set accountants' heads spinning.
Previously Caruso has suggested his Disturbia and **Eagle Eye **star Shia LaBeouf as the Man Who Would Be Arseface, as well as Chris Pine for the all-important role of Jesse Custer, but for now that's all pie in the sky stuff with Caruso's other project, Invertigo, taking precidence for the time being.
"I believe Invertigo will be my next film. It’s getting very close," says Caruso. "In order to do the movie for the right budget, and to make it economic and still make the kind of movie I want it to be, we need the studio to back us. If you asked me in a week I would know more for sure, but I would probably say it’s going to be in the next couple of films."
**Preacher **will hit cinemas... eventually (with any luck).