Todd McFarlane to direct new R-rated, lower budget Spawn movie

S to the p to the a to the awn

20 years ago Michael Jai White and John Leguizamo put on some crazy outfits and delivered an even crazier film with Spawn. While Todd MacFarlane’s Spawn will never be as popular as it was in 1997, a film version now makes sense more than ever given our current waning superhero boom as it evolves into a call for weightier, R-rated stories. 

Todd MacFarlane has noticed it himself, and took to Facebook to announce that he is working with Blumhouse Productions (the biggest horror production company right now) on a new “badass” Spawn film: 

We’re now making movies. We’re going. Blumhouse, Spawn, badass, R [rating], it’s coming, get ready for it! We’re going into production.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first draft of the film’s script has already been written, and MacFarlane himself will be directing. The biggest note, however, is that Blumhouse and MacFarlane are aiming for a lower budget, horror/thriller take on the hero. 

Given that Blumhouse has produced films with lower budgets and huge returns, like the Insidious series, Get Out, The Purge, and Split, this only makes creative sense. I’m giving MacFarlane the benefit of the doubt and assume he knows what he can and can’t do with whatever means he’s given. 

Regardless, I’m super pumped about a new Spawny boy movie. I bet they could bring Michael Jai White back and no one would mind. 

New ‘Spawn’ Movie in the Works with Todd MacFarlane, Blumhouse [THR]