Until The End Of The World: AMC Reportedly Buys Rights To Preacher

Editor’s Note: Regarding our “Strange Visitor” from yesterday, the vet said that he’s only a five or six month old kitten who, based on his weight and claw length, has probably lived most of his life on the street. So while we have reported the guy to our local Animal Control Department, it looks like he’s staying. His name is now Parker, after Richard Stark’s thief. Because he snuck in, he got food from us… and today when I locked him in the carrier box? He did his time like a motherfucking pro.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

It has been 13 and a half years since Preacher published its last issue under the Vertigo Comics imprint, and in that time, there have been rumors that it was gonna be adapted to some medium or another. For a while it was gonna be a movie, and then HBO had the rights for a while, and then, for a while, nothing. It is, after all, a hell of a property to try to adapt – an epic story covering decades, not to mention most of America, heaven and hell.

It takes someone with balls of stone and real vision for genre entertainment to tackle a property like Preacher. Which is why we can all thank God that apparently we have new involvement in the project by Seth Rogen.

You know, the guy who did The Green Hornet movie.

So how Rogen is involved – producer, actor, or what – I’m not sure, but it looks like a lock that this thing might actually go to pilot, since it seems that AMC, the studio and network who brought us The Walking Dead, seem to have bought the rights to the comic. And yeah, that rumor has been going around for a while, but it seems that it’s been unofficially confirmed by the Chief Operating Officer of the network. To the owner of his local comic store. Where they don’t know him by name and have no idea how they might be affecting a majorly anticipated comic property.

I accede that he’s correct and decide to just go for it, “So I guess you heard the rumors about AMC buying Preacher, huh?”

“Yeah, he says… I work there.”

So I get a bit flustered, especially after some more talk makes it clear that AMC has indeed purchased the rights, and start babbling about what a great book Preacher is, the sort of challenges they’re going to have, just geeking out basically.

“If you do it right, though, it could be VERY successful.”

“I hope so, we paid enough for it,” he deadpans.

Look, I don’t mean to make fun of Seth Rogen. The guy usually picks solid projects (even though The Green Hornet really was awful), and if he has an enthusiasm for Preacher, well, better him than some corporate drone who’s just looking for the next Walking Dead or Arrow property. And AMC has established that they will put money behind comic projects (albeit just enough money to make them good). So if these guys can get a reasonable version of Preacher off the ground? I don’t care if they fucked up The Green Hornet or any other damn thing.

Just so long as Rogen doesn’t cast himself as Cassidy. I don’t think I could bear five seasons of Seth Rogen faking an Irish accent.

(via Bleeding Cool)