After umpteen years, and just as many unsuccessful attempts of trying to get it up, a feature film version of Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon’s graphic novel series “Preacher” may finally be coming to fruition.

Variety reports that Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”) is in negotiations to helm the pic, the tale of a preacher of a Texas town, who is struggling to get by and is driven only by his strong moral sense. When the city is decimated by an otherworldly force, he embarks on a journey across the country to take on the evil.

Those that have previously tried to bring ‘’Preacher” to screens are Kevin Smith – whose View Askew Productions tapped James Marsden to play the lead in a feature film version – and Mark Steven Johnson, director of ‘’Ghost Rider”, who pitched a mini-series based on the property to HBO.

It’s been a few years since James Marsden (“X-Men”, “Superman Returns”) was attached to the project, but I still think he might have what it takes to pull of the role – and he’s a tad more bankable now than he was then. Consider, Sam.