After years of teasing fans with the idea that he was going to reclaim his creation cinematically and work on a new film about the character, Spawn's Todd McFarlane announced at San Diego's Comic-Con last year that he had partnered up with Blumhouse to make it. And now the news arrives that Jamie Foxx will star.
Spawn, as previously brought to life on screen in animated and live-action form, began life as CIA black ops team member Al Simmons, betrayed by his colleagues and then again by Hell. After agreeing to become a Hellspawn warrior in the hopes of being reunited with his wife, he's trapped in the form, and forced to dispatch the scum of the Earth while also fighting in battles that encompass our planet, Heaven and Hell.
McFarlane's plan is not to retell Spawn's origin story, but will fill in more details about his back story if he's lucky enough to kick off a planned trilogy. Blumhouse, according to Deadline, is giving him a $10-$12 million budget to bring a violent vision to life. One intriguing element is the fact that his antihero central figure will be almost wordless, which doesn't seem to be the best use of Foxx. McFarlane, however, has a plan. "There are five or six moments where I’m going to need things from my actors, and a couple of them have to come from Jamie, and I’ve seen him deliver them onscreen," McFarlane tells Deadline. "He gets into a zone, with body language and a look that basically will say way more than anything I could type on a piece of paper, and this movie is going to need those moments. And in the odd moment where he has to deliver a line that’s short, curt and has impact, he can do it in a way that makes you go, 'Whoa, I don’t want to mess with that guy. What a badass.'"
According to the first-time director, Foxx has been on his mind for years. "Jamie came to my office five years ago, and he had an idea about Spawn and we talked about it," McFarlane days. "I never forgot him, and when I was writing this script, you sort of plug people in, and he was my visual guy and I never let go of him. When I got done and my agents and everybody was talking about what actor, I said, I’m going to Jamie first and until he says no I don’t want to think about anyone else because I’ve never had anyone else in my head. Luckily, he hadn’t forgotten either. I said, 'Hey, I’m back to talk about Spawn again, and he was like, let’s do it.'" For more from McFarlane, head to Deadline's site.
Can Spawn work properly in live-action this time? Sounds like McFarlane's going to give it a shot, at least.
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