In an apparent effort not to let fans suffer too much, Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights to Preacher, the very popular, very violent comic. Their current plan seems to be to make this into a big-screen adaptation with Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) — an interesting choice — attached to direct.

Preacher was recently heading for a HBO TV series run, which most fans seemed to think was the best option; they wouldn’t have to squish all the good stuff in a two-hour movie and they could violently squish a lot more things without fear of the dreaded NC-17 rating. These plans didn’t play out, however, and the project was killed off by HBO before now being picked back up by Columbia.

This is all likely driving fans — having them walk a razor blade edge between the project being done the way they want or not seeing it at all. I think this has a chance of working out really well. It will be difficult to please fans with one particular storyline, but Sam Mendes is a very talented man and this can lead to very pleasing surprises.

Preacher is by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and naturally follows a preacher named Jesse Custer who gets possessed by an Angel/Demon hybrid in an event that destroys his church and kills his congregation. As you might imagine, this didn’t sit well with him. The hybrid that’s possessing him is incredibly powerful and since it’s both good and evil, some believe it can rival the power of God. In an effort to prove this, he sets off to find God with his girlfriend and a vampire!

[Source: THR]