Just when you thought all the big comic book movie news would come from Disney or Warner Brothers, along comes Spawn.
Deadline has the exclusive that Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx has signed on to play Spawn in the upcoming reboot film. The character’s creator, Todd McFarlane, who will also direct the film, also broke the news on Facebook.
Spawn is an ex-CIA mercenary who was set up by a former partner and killed in a fiery accident. His soul goes to hell and is given the opportunity to return to Earth on one condition–he becomes a soul collector for Hell, returning the condemned that escaped to Earth back to Hell. He returns to Earth months later and begrudgingly fulfills his agreement.
The comic was adapted to screen once before, back in 1997 with Michael Jai White in the lead role. That film was a modest success, but McFarlane was promising to deliver a hard R-Rated version to theaters for a while now.
The film is at Blumhouse and promises to be a gritty, low-budget (somewhere in the $10-12 million range) feature that will hew closer to the feel of the comic than the original does.
No word on a release date as of yet.