The big news today: Pat Mills and Clint Langley’s American Reaper – first published in Judge Dredd Megazine – has been optioned by Stephen Spielberg’s Amblin Partners for a potential feature film.
“Kudos to Clint Langley, whose gorgeous art made Reaper so eye-catching,” Pat commented, “and to Jeremy Davis, Repeat Offender’s ‘business rottweiler’, who has been on the case for years to make this happen.”
Pat’s followed Amblin Partners announcement it had acquired the feature film rights to the graphic novels American Reaper and Reaper Files and will partner with Intrepid Pictures to develop and produce the project, with Amblin financing.
Ciarán Foy will direct and will co-write the script with Kyle Ward, based on their original pitch to Amblin and Intrepid.
For those not familiar, American Reaper is a sci-fi action noir, set in a near future where the aging elite (“Snatchers”) prey upon the young, paying to hijack their bodies in order to prolong their own lives.
This extreme form of identity crime has become so rampant on the black market that law enforcement has been forced to create a new division, which the public has nicknamed “Reapers.”
The strip was originally published in Judge Dredd Megazine over three series, the first in Issues 316–321 (2011 – 2012), then
Issues 332 – 337 (2013) and, finally, Issues 355 – 360 (2014 – 2015), later stories released in the third run as “The Reaper Files”.
Foy’s writing and directing debut, Citadel, won the midnight audience award at SXSW in 2012; and he has since directed Sinister 2. His latest film, the horror thriller Eli, produced by Intrepid, was released by Netflix last October.
Foy also recently directed episodes of Mike Flanagan’s and Intrepid’s The Haunting of Bly Manor for Amblin Television, Intrepid, Paramount Television and Netflix. American Reaper continues Foy’s relationship with Intrepid and Amblin.
Ward, who began his career at DreamWorks, sold his feature pitch Kingdom Come to Netflix earlier this year with Rawson Marshall Thurber, and recently adapted the best-selling book, The Company We Keep, for LD Entertainment as well as set up his spec script Dogtown at Bold Films.
Intrepid principals Trevor Macy and Mike Flanagan will produce the project, with Melinda Nishioka executive producing on behalf of Intrepid. Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler and Alex Francis will also serve as executive producers.
Amblin President of Production Jeb Brody, will oversee the production for the studio, along with creative executive John Buderwitz.
Amblin Partners recently announced that Naomi Scott would star alongside Anthony Ramos in their upcoming comedic sci-fi film Distant, being directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon. The company’s recent theatrical releases include 1917, which won three Academy Awards and has grossed more than $385m at the global box office to-date, and Green Book, which last year won three Academy Awards including Best Picture and grossed more than $320m worldwide.
Trevor Macy and Mike Flanagan’s Intrepid Pictures is currently in production on Midnight Mass for Netflix. The Haunting of Bly Manor, the second season in the The Haunting series through their multi-year television deal with Netflix will premiere this autumn. Intrepid also produced the feature film Doctor Sleep starring Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson released last year.
Foy is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Ziffren Brittenham. Ward was repped in the deal by Verve, Management 360 and attorney Sean Marks. Intrepid is represented by WME; Flanagan is managed by Novo and represented by VanderKloot Law; and Macy is represented by Reder & Feig.
• Pat Mills is online at www.millsverse.com
• Clint Langley is online at www.clintlangley.com
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Film, Other Worlds
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I hope this movie deal goes into production, as it might entice some publishers to finance more new Reaper stories from Pat & Clint!