Editorial Staff
Update! : Deadline have confirmed an earlier scoop by ThatHashtagShow (see below) that suggested Jamie Foxx would be taking on the role of ‘Spawn’ in the long-gestating movie reboot of Todd McFarlane’s comic creation for Blumhouse.
McFarlane, marking his directorial debut on the film, tells Deadline the film won’t be an origin story and we can expect Spawn to be a man of few words in the film.
“The scariest movies, from Jaws to John Carpenter’s The Thing, or The Grudge and The Ring, the boogeyman doesn’t talk,” McFarlane told Deadline, acknowledging that he’s gotten odd stares from studio suits in the past on this approach. “It confuses people because of the comic book industry, and because they all default into their Captain America mindset and I keep saying, no, get into John Carpenter’s mindset or Hitchcock. This is not a man in a rubber suit, it’s not a hero that’s going to come and save the damsel. It’s none of that. At the end of the movie, I’m hoping that the audience will say either, is this a ghost that turns into a man, or is it a man that turns into a ghost? I’ve got a trilogy in mind here, and I’m not inclined in this first movie to do an origin story. I’m mentally exhausted from origin stories. Luckily, there’s a movie that just came out that helps my cause. In A Quiet Place, the first thing on screen is a card in black and white letters that says Day 89. It doesn’t care about what happened in those first 88 days. There are a couple headlines, but then we are on day 450. That movie doesn’t worry about explaining and giving all the answers. What it said in that case was, if you can hang on for a story of survival of this family, this movie will make complete sense for you.”
“Jamie came to my office five years ago, and he had an idea about Spawn and we talked about it,” McFarlane added. “I never forgot him, and when I was writing this script, you sort of plug people in, and he was my visual guy and I never let go of him. When I got done and my agents and everybody was talking about what actor, I said, I’m going to Jamie first and until he says no I don’t want to think about anyone else because I’ve never had anyone else in my head. Luckily, he hadn’t forgotten either. I said, ‘Hey, I’m back to talk about Spawn again, and he was like, let’s do it.’”
Blumhouse’s Jason Blum is all for Foxx in the role.
“We are thrilled Jamie Foxx will be playing the title role in our movie adaptation of Spawn,” he said in a statement. “He is an incredible actor and a huge fan of the Spawn Universe that Todd McFarlane created. With the depth of talent Jamie can commit to the role and Todd at the helm bringing the world of Spawn to life, we could not be more excited for this film.”
Foxx said his five-year wait has been worth it.
“A few years back I flew out to Arizona to meet the man behind one of the most incredible comic book characters in the universe… Todd McFarlane. He was taken aback when I told him with the enthusiasm of a young child that more than anything I wanted to put my name in the hat to embody his beloved character Spawn…. I told him no one would work harder than me if given the opportunity… well… the opportunity is here!! I’m humbled and ready to transform… and to top things off the young Jason Blum is lending his brilliance to the project! Time to be great!!!! #Spawn.”
Previously..
Our friends at ThatHashtagShow.com scored a plum scoop today : Jamie Foxx could be the new ‘Spawn’.
The versatile “Baby Driver” and “Ray” star has been offered the the role of Spawn/Al Simmons in the long-awaited reboot of Todd McFarlane’s comic creation over at Blumhouse.
Foxx has been interested in playing the role for a number of years now.
Michael Jai White played the role in the first live-action version of “Spawn”. As opposed to the original film, this one will be a two-hander.
Says the site, “Fans of the comics will recognize the name Twitch Williams as one of the duo of NYPD homicide detectives, Sam and Twitch, who worked sometimes worked alongside Spawn. Without giving anything away, we can expect Twitch and Spawn to be working together to track down some baddies and dish out a special kind of vengeance.”
