It’s been three years since Warner Bros. first started developing the little-known DC comic-book, Deadman, for the big screen, with a view to installing producer Guillermo del Toro (pictured) as director.
A lot’s happened in those three years, though – namely, **The Hobbit **– and with del Toro unavailable to direct, the search began for a new director to bring to life the tale of a murdered circus acrobat who is reborn with the power to possess the living.
Well, that search is now over, for it has yielded Danish director, Nikolaj Arcel.
Last seen as script consultant on Lars von Trier’s Tookey-baiting Antichrist, Arcel’s track record shows why he was hired for the Deadman gig: his acclaimed 2007 film, Island Of Lost Souls, also revolves around possession of the living, and dark, supernatural forces. Still, we detect the hand of the cine-literate del Toro, who remains on board as producer along with Don Murphy and Susan Montford, in Arcel’s hiring, rather than a bunch of corporate suits.
Gary Dauberman wrote the screenplay for the movie, which still has a ways to go before production begins.