Spawn creator Todd McFarlane has promised that if Hollywood doesn't move forward with the movie in 2024, he'll "figure it out outside".
In a new interview with ComicBook.com, the Image Comics president said that he's giving the big studios until the end of the year to snap up the project officially before he starts exploring other options in terms of production and distribution. The superhero flick would likely center on murdered marine Al Simmons, who is resurrected as the reluctant leader of Hell's army.
"2024 is gonna be my make or break anyways, right? Either I'm gonna give Hollywood the best chance to do it and, if not, I've got plenty of outside investors waiting," McFarlane told the publication.
"So, I'm trying to see if we can make the right deal within the norm of the Hollywood structure. If not, there have been plenty of examples, actually, a couple big ones last year, where people went outside the normal channels and succeeded," he continued. "People have done this before with independent movies: you make your movie and you just find a distributor. That one, I could do in a heartbeat."
McFarlane went on to sing producer Jason Blum's praises, describing the Blumhouse CEO as "one of the better ones at getting things done." He also said that he was due to start reading scripts this month and that he'll be emailing those currently linked to the adaptation soon to "remind them" that they "promised" him that.
"Something's gotta happen, something's gonna happen, I just know myself. Something's gonna happen because if I can't figure it out inside, I'll figure it out outside. But, hopefully, we can figure out a deal that keeps all the parties that have been involved over the years involved."
Talks surrounding a Spawn movie, which is set to be a more horror-leaning take on the source material than Warner Bros' 1997 outing, which starred Michael Jai White in the titular role, has been ongoing since 2007, when McFarlane said he was keen to make a hard-R Spawn flick. Later, he mentioned that a Hollywood A-lister, who later turned out to be Jamie Foxx, was also interested. Since then, though, not much has been heard about the reboot – and it's been assumed Foxx is no longer attached.
While we wait for more Spawn news, check out our list of exciting upcoming movies coming our way in 2024 and beyond.
