Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, the writers and directors behind last year's This is the End and this month's The Interview, have just got their latest project set in place. For AMC has officially ordered the pilot adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion's comic book series Preacher, set to begin filming in the summer with Rogen and Goldberg directing.
Deadline reported the news, which has had a long road to the screen, both small and big, but no success until now. Serving as showrunner is Sam Catlin (Breaking Bad), who will executive produce the show and also wrote the pilot's teleplay. Rogen & Goldberg have been trying to get the cult comic project off the ground for seven years.
Initially, reports originating from Variety stated Rogen and Goldberg also wrote the pilot's script, both those reports have since been dis-proven.
“Preacher has been our favorite comic since it first came out,” Rogen and Goldberg said. “Garth Ennis is one of our idols and it’s an incredible honor to be working on this. We promise we won’t make too many dick jokes and ruin it.”
Rogen and Goldberg are also executive producing, through their Point Grey banner. Also executive producing is Neal Moritz, Vivian Cannon and Ori Marmur, of Original Films, as well as Ken Levin, Jason Netter and Ennis & Dillion.
“Every once in a while you find a project where all the elements line up beautifully," said Joel Stillerman, AMC's EVP of original programming. "With Preacher, it starts with a bold, compelling, and thought-provoking comic book series from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and a whole lot of fans who already know Jesse Custer, Cassidy, and Tulip."
"Add to that the passionate and talented Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Sam Catlin, an incredible producing team in Neal Moritz, the Original Film team and our good friends at Sony Pictures Television, and we have everything we need to be VERY excited to move forward on Preacher," he continued.
Ennis & Dillion's comic, running 1995-2000, from DC's Vertigo imprint, centers on Jesse Custer, a troubled Preacher in a small Texas town, who stumbles upon a creature which escaped from Heaven. Through him, he develops the ability to make anyone do anything he says. Partnering with his Tulip, his ex-girlfriend, and Cassidy, an Irish vampire, the three oddball companions go on a journey to literally find God. Thanks to it's cult status and dark violent content, AMC is hoping this series becomes the next Walking Dead. The show does not have a start date set, but is expected to premiere in 2016.
Rogen, star of this summer's Neighbors, which Goldberg produced beside him, has a couple other projects lined up for him in the future. In addition to The Interview, he reunites with his 50/50 star Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in an untitled Christmas Eve project coming out next year, and also has Kung Fu Panda 3 coming out next December. He also stars in two films his buddy James Franco directed, The Sound and the Fury and Zeroville, coming soon. He also voiced a role in the delayed animated film B.O.O.:Bureau of Otherworldly Operations and may also be filming a role as Steve Wozniak in the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic.
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com