D.J. Caruso Confirmed For "Preacher"

The "I Am Number Four" director is set to adapt the cult comic.

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After his teen-skewing sci-fi flick I Am Number Four opened moderately well this past weekend ($23 million), D.J. Caruso has announced, via his Twitter, that after weeks of speculation he has indeed signed on to direct the film adaptation of Preacher. The oft-troubled project has been stuck in development hell for years. At one point, Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition) was attached to direct, and there was even talk of it becoming an HBO miniseries helmed by Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider). But now Columbia Pictures seems to be officially moving forward with Caruso as director.

Preacher will be based on the DC/Vertigo comic book of the same name. It revolves around an ex-preacher named Jesse Custer who becomes possessed by Genesis, a supernatural entity that's the product of both an angel and a demon. With the ability to have anyone follow his commands, thanks to Genesis, Custer begins a cross-country odyssey with his ex-girlfriend and an alcoholic Irish vampire in order to find God.

The original comic, written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Steve Dillon, is a supremely sacrilegious and violent affair that seems difficult to film as a mainstream pic, even given an R rating, so it'll be interesting to see how much Columbia Pictures will censor, if anything.

While we await some more confirmation, Caruso’s directing skills can be scouted in the critically mauled I Am Number Four, currently in theaters.

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