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After months of discussing the possibility of a new Spawn Movie, Todd McFarlane officially announced that McFarlane Films has joined forces with Blumhouse Productions to return the character to the big screen.
In a video posted on his Facebook page from San Diego Comic-Con, McFarlane confirmed that a rated-R Spawn film will move into pre-production very soon. Late last year, McFarlane also said that if the film were to happen, it would not be a continuation of the 1997 film, but would instead be a fresh take on the Spawn Story.
The first Spawn movie starring Michael Jai White was released by New Line in 1997 and grossed $87.8M at the worldwide box office off a $40 million production cost. It opened to $19.7M domestically, ranking second during the first weekend of August. It ended its domestic run at $54.9M.
McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, will write the first draft of the screenplay and make his directorial debut with the film. And considering the risk involved in wanting to helm the project himself, Blumhouse seems like the best possible pairing for McFarlane and fans of his character, due to their business model that centers around allowing filmmakers creative control in exchange for a smaller budget.
Published by Image Comics, Spawn follows elite CIA mercenary Al Simmons, who after being killed by his partner is sent to hell because he was responsible for the death of several innocent people. Simmons makes a deal for his soul with an evil being known as Malebolgia so he could see his wife again. But Simmons is turned into a demonic creature and sent back to Earth.
This announcement adds to a fantastic 2017 for Blumhouse Productions, who have already seen significant box office success with releases like Split and Get Out, together amassing $529M in global ticket sales in 2017, off combined budgets of only $13.5M.
Regarding the new Spawn project, Jason Blum said in a statement, “Having worked with many visionary directors, I think Todd’s unique artistic talents will only add to his role as director of this film”.
No other details, including cast or release date, have yet been announced.
