As the massive Comic-Con Int’l gets set to kick off this week in San Diego, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that two more comic-book properties are being prepped for the big screen. Warner Bros. Pictures has reportedly formed a posse to adapt DC Comics’ Western tale Jonah Hex, while New Line Cinema takes on Vertigo’s post-apocalyptic Y: The Last Man.
Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who wrote and directed the Jason Statham action flick Crank, have been tapped to adpat Jonah Hex, the tale of a disfigured gunslinger and bounty hunter who wanders the west in a Confederate army uniform. Created by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga, the character debuted in 1972 in DC’s All-Star Western series, and has been revived a couple of times, most recently in 2005. He also showed up in animated form in episodes of Warner Bros. Animation’s Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited.
Like some of the comics, the Hex flick will apparently include supernatural elements in addition to traditional western fare. Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman is producing the film along with Andrew Lazar of Mad Chance Prods. Greg Silverman and Elishia Holmes are shepherding the project for Warner Bros. and Gregory Noveck is overseeing for DC.
Y: The Last Man is being brought to the screen by the team of D.J. Caruso and Carl Ellsworth, whose murder thriller Disturbia grossed more than $80 million domestically this summer. Created by scribe Brian K. Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra, the comic series follows the adventures of an amateur escape artist who manages to survive a mysterious plague that has killed every other male in the world. Caruso (The Salton Sea) will direct from a script by Ellsworth (Red Eye). Blade: Trinity director David S. Goyer is producing the film with J.C. Spink and Chris Bender.
