Spawn


No official plot yet.

How excited are you to see this movie?: 
Average: 3.3 (1472 votes)

Jamie Foxx
Jeremy Renner
Jamie Foxx
Jeremy Renner

CURRENT STATUS: 
In Development
RELEASE DATE: 
TBD 2025/2026 (Theaters)

 

PROJECT DETAILS:

Todd McFarlane had another interview recently, where he revealed that as far as he knows Jamie Foxx and Jeremy Renner are still attached to the project. Here's what he had to say: "Until somebody says otherwise (they’re still attached). What ends up happening– again, Hollywood is in an interesting place that actors, writers, directors, producers, they all have schedules, and the windows of opportunities open and close and open and close, right? You’ve heard about it before. Plenty of people have projects and then other stuff comes along and something gets delayed and you just got to show your schedule. So until somebody tells me in my ear that these gentlemen are not involved for whatever reason, then I assume I haven’t heard otherwise. Nobody’s nobody’s talking to me about anybody being replaced." (2/15/24)

Todd McFarlane had a recent interview where he expressed his interest in finally moving forward with the movie this year, whether it be with Jason Blum or some other interested investors. Here's what he had to say: "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. 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. And 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." Adding.... "Fingers crossed, I'm gonna give as much of an effort to those that live within the confines of it. Obviously, Jason Blum is one of the better ones at getting things done. They tell me I get to read the script this month, so the email's going out this week to remind them that they promised me 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. I just know myself. But, hopefully, we can figure out a deal that keeps all the parties that have been involved over the years involved." (1/3/24)

Jason Blum was recently asked the movie will be coming out, where he backed up his earlier claim of a 2025 release, saying: "2025 is when Spawn is going to come out. I stand by that. I stand by that." Meanwhile, Todd McFarlane (in another interview last year) revealed the tone he was aiming for, saying: "I think in between [The Boys and a traditional horror movie]. We've got a different group of people on board, and they might not be as darkly bent as I am. If you ask me, I'd make it ugly, dark, make children cry. But the play we're trying for, and we'll see whether it works, and we'll know by the end of this year -- we're taking a pretty big moonshot of what we think we can pull off in Hollywood. If we can pull it off, it will be a big deal, financially, and once you get into those conversations, they're going to want to do it in a way that they can then get their money back." (10/2/23)

Producer Jason Blum had a recent interview where he offered a brief update on the project, which is expectedly on pause due to the current writer's strike. Here's what he had to say: "I would say you have a lot to hope for because it's in very very active development. What needs to happen is that my fellow friends, the writers and the studios, need to figure out their differences and get back to writing, but we've got a great group of folks putting it together, and my hope is that that movie— my prediction is maybe we'll actually see a Spawn movie in '25. No promises, but that's my prediction." (6/28/23)

It looks like the studio is taking the project more seriously now and have added a trio of new writers to tackle the script. Now attached are Scott Silver (8 Mile, Joker), Malcolm Spellman (Empire, The Falcon and the Winer Soldier, Bel-Air) and relative newcomer Matthew Mixon. While creator Todd McFarlane has expressed interest in directing for a while, he seems more lenient now in letting someone else take over.  Here's what he had to say: "If we’ve got an A-list actor, A-list producers, A-list writers, then do you want to shoot for A-list directors, A-list cinematographers? The answer is, ‘of course.’ Let’s keep the momentum going." It also appears that Jamie Foxx is still attched, however, Jeremy Renner's involvement remains to be seen. It was also revealed that while McFarlane's original script was meant to be low budget, this new script will likely call for a slightly bigger budget, so McFarlane and the rest of the team are seeking another studio to partner with. (10/5/22)

The project finally has some new movement, as writer Brian Tucker (Broken City) has been hired to do a script rewrite. (8/16/21)

It seems like every "update" on this project is the same and this appears to be not much different, as producer Jason Blum had a recent interview, where he revealed that "it’s taken longer than I hoped it would have to get the story right, but we’re still working on it." He adds.. "It’s gonna be very different, it’s gonna be very edgy. What excited me about it is that Spawn is kind of the last great unexploited comic. So that seemed like an amazing opportunity." So, once again, not much real movement. (11/11/20)

Apparently there has been quite a bit of movement on the project recently, at least that's according to producer Jason Blum, who had a recent interview where he revealed that there has been a "seismic event" on the project. Here's what he had to say: "There has been an enormous amount of activity on Spawn. No new news that I'm going to reveal here, I'm sorry to tell you, but the title 'Spawn,' I've been uttering that word a lot in the last two or three weeks and we'll have more news to come. But, suffice it to say, it is a very active development." Adding... "I wanna make the movie so badly... I've actually been talking to other people about it, but there's been a seismic event on Spawn." (5/26/20)

McFarlane talks again about the holdup on the film in a recent interview, saying: "There’s a couple things. I wrote the first draft of the screenplay. If I’d done my job and written a screenplay that mattered, that would have sold it. I’m culpable on that end to start with. Then there’s the fear and risk on the financing side with a first time writer, first time director. That’s why I went to get Jason Blum to produce, and attached Jamie [Foxx] and Jeremy [Renner] – to add the quality to it. My goal is to continue to add those kind of quality people at all levels. The more I can add those people, the less I become relevant as a risk. Hopefully, the studios will see that I am planning accordingly and going about this in a businesslike way to reduce that back-end risk, and at some point, we’ll move forward." (4/16/20)

Another year, another update from McFarlane--however this time filming may finally begin this year. In a recent interview McFarlane was quoted saying: "Everybody in Hollywood wants an R-rated, dark comic book movie, and Spawn is at the top of their list. The phone calls are coming in fast and rapid. I’ve been talking to a couple of Academy Award people, I’ve got the investors getting lined up. It’s changed ever since the Joker from being me begging them to do Spawn dark and creepy, to them asking. So I’m telling you it will happen this year. This year. And I will direct it. I will be directing it." (3/4/20)

Todd McFarlane offers a new update on the movie, this time sounding a bit more optomistic in comparison to the last update. According to McFarlane an unknown writer is polishing the current script, saying: "Right now it’s being polished by another writer-director from the script that we handed him. He’s supposed to be done with it here in a few weeks, and then once we sort of go back and forth and tighten it up a little bit, then we’re going into Hollywood and we’re gonna get a yes or no." Adding... "Here’s what I can tell you: I have people with money on the sidelines. There are people that are gonna help me make this movie. The question is, do we go into Hollywood, make a deal with Hollywood, go and make the production, and then come back? Or do I take the outside money, go make it, and then come back to Hollywood?... Either way, the movie’s coming. It’s not an ‘if,’ it’s a ‘when.’ I just think that it would be better for the process if we could attach one of the studios in advance, and then go put it out. Because then we’d be able to make an announcement of the release date … knowing that it’s coming instead of making it and trying to get the release date later." (12/2/19)

Todd McFarlane gave another update on the status of the film recently, which still hasn't moved due to financial issues. Here's what he had to say: "I need $20 million to make this movie, I don't have all of it. I have to ask people for money, and once you ask people for money, they get to have a say in it. Like I said, it's a little bit of an uphill battle, because again, I just want to do this little dark 'R' movie, and they like those PG-13 success movies." Adding... "Look I am relentless, I'm like a dog with a bone. I will get there, I promise you. I will get there. Because I will beat the system. Here's what I'll do: I'll do it as a Kickstarter... and here's the Kickstarter: I need 20 million people to give me a dollar. And I will make this movie, and when I get the money back I'll return the dollar back to you. And you will be my producers... and all I'll need is the distribution. That's doable today." Still hopeful, he added.. "...there's people on the outside that want to give me money that aren't in the system. But we're going to get it done. I'm just trying to play nice, now, but I'm starting to lose my patience. But we'll try; it's going to get there one way or another, I promise you. I'm not going to let this one go." (7/24/19)

Despite things moving seemingly quick last year, it appears that production on the film still hasn't moved. According to a recent interview with Todd McFarlane, he's still just waiting for the final script to get approval, saying:  "The money's sitting on the sidelines ready to go. I just need to get everyone that wants to put in money to shake their heads to the same script. As you can imagine, everyone has a slightly different version of it in their head. You just go and trying to appease a handful of people while not giving in to what it is that I'm trying to do myself. Because if I have to change it too much, I'll just walk away from it all." (5/23/19)

Jeremy Renner has joined the cast as Detective ‘Twitch’ Williams, who aids Spawn in the real world. Producer Jason Blum was quoted saying: "Jeremy is the ideal choice for Twitch Williams. He radiates honesty, intelligence and a hard-working, everyman charisma, the same qualities that make Twitch such a compelling character."

Actor Jamie Foxx has been pursuing the role of Spawn for some time now and it's now official: he is the new Spawn. Todd McFarlane followed up the announcement saying the following: “There are five or six moments where I’m going to need things from my actors, and a couple of them have to come from Jamie, and I’ve seen him deliver them onscreen. He gets into a zone, with body language and a look that basically will say way more than anything i could type on a piece of paper, and this movie is going to need those moments. And in the odd moment where he has to deliver a line that’s short, curt and has impact, he can do it in a way that makes you go, ‘Whoa, I don’t want to mess with that guy. What a badass.'” Adding... “Jamie came to my office five years ago, and he had an idea about Spawn and we talked about it. I never forgot him, and when I was writing this script, you sort of plug people in, and he was my visual guy and I never let go of him. When I got done and my agents and everybody was talking about what actor, I said, I’m going to Jamie first and until he says no I don’t want to think about anyone else because I’ve never had anyone else in my head. Luckily, he hadn’t forgotten either. I said, ‘Hey, I’m back to talk about Spawn again, and he was like, let’s do it.'” On the movie McFarlane said the following: “The scariest movies, from Jaws to John Carpenter’s The Thing, or The Grudge and The Ring, the boogeyman doesn’t talk. It confuses people because of the comic book industry, and because they all default into their Captain America mindset and I keep saying, no, get into John Carpenter’s mindset or Hitchcock. This is not a man in a rubber suit, it’s not a hero that’s going to come and save the damsel. It’s none of that. At the end of the movie, I’m hoping that the audience will say either, is this a ghost that turns into a man, or is it a man that turns into a ghost? I’ve got a trilogy in mind here, and I’m not inclined in this first movie to do an origin story. I’m mentally exhausted from origin stories. Luckily, there’s a movie that just came out that helps my cause. In A Quiet Place, the first thing on screen is a card in black and white letters that says Day 89. It doesn’t care about what happened in those first 88 days. There are a couple headlines, but then we are on day 450. That movie doesn’t worry about explaining and giving all the answers. What it said in that case was, if you can hang on for a story of survival of this family, this movie will make complete sense for you.” (5/29/18)

Todd McFarlane gave a brief update and once again spoke about his approach with the film recently, saying: "We just signed off on the script, and are going into budgeting. We're also having our casting meeting...It will be dark and heavy, serious, R-rated. It won't be a superhero movie. I don't think most people would categorize it as that. It will be a supernatural thriller, like a lot of good creep movies. The only thing in the movie that's fantastic is Spawn, and anything else is otherwise normal." Adding... "I like to explain that it's my "Jaws." Spawn doesn't say a word the entire movie, and it's the same way with "Jaws." It's about the sheriff and the people, chasing the ghost. That's it...The lead role isn’t Spawn, the lead role is a cop, like Sheriff Brody from "Jaws." I think we can hook a fairly significant actor that we want. Unlike a superhero movie, we wouldn't need an actor to put on prosthetic (makeup) or go to the gym. We just need him to act. " (1/8/18)

According to Todd McFarlane pre-production will begin after Christmas, with filming aimed to begin sometime in February. He goes on to say that the film will be R-rated, but not "R-rated like Deadpool with a couple F-bombs and a couple bare asses." Adding.. "It’s going to be dark. I will have a shark in black water and if you’re swimming he will come and you’ll be gone and he will fuck you up." (10/5/17)

Todd McFarlane spoke more about the project, revealing some new details, like how Spawn won't be the lead character in the film, saying: "There's two big roles in the script. There's obviously sort of Spawn himself, although in a weird way it's not the biggest role, and then there's the cop. The cop is this character Twitch who's been there since issue #1. Twitch is the role in this one, and I sort of refer to him as my sheriff Brody, who is the sheriff in the Jaws movie. Although it was called Jaws, Jaws didn't really talk a lot in his movie, right? He just kind of showed up at the opportune time to make the movie worthwhile." Adding... "It was sheriff Brody, the humans talking, chasing the fantastical thing that sort of made the movie, and to me, there's that element. Everything else is normal in this story other than (gesture) the shadow moves, and at times even when it moves, the cop just sort of thinks he's losing his mind so he doesn't even trust that the shadow's moving. If you're a bad guy, then this thing is going to come and it's going to get you."

Todd McFarlane announced via Facebook that he's signed a deal with Blumhouse, who will help produce an R-rated Spawn. This also likely means that they've agreed to let Todd helm the pic, which is one of the stipulations that Todd required when looking for the right studio. He seems pretty confident that things will be moving fast from the post, so there will probably be more updates on the project soon. (7/21/17)

Todd McFarlane had an interview with SyFy Wire where he offers another update. Apparently he's still looking for the right studio to back the project, but he wants to write, produce, and direct, which is a problem for the studio, so that's essentially what's keeping from things moving forward. Here's what he had to say: "So I’m going, I’m not selling it but if you want to see the rough draft, I’ll send it to you. But just so everybody knows, I write, produce, direct, non-negotiable. And if you add a moment's hesitation to that, we have to end this conversation right now." He goes on to say that he's written a script with a $10-million budget in mind. (7/7/17)

Todd McFarlane gave another update in a recent interview, saying: "It's slowly moving forward, just trying to put all the pieces together both from an artistic and a financial. The intent is trying to finance as much as possible internally and then finding partners who will help in the production of it as we move forward. I can argue getting the money might be harder than getting everybody signed off on the story. What I can tell you is what I've told everybody else: it will be a definite R. I'm not going for the same crowd that Marvel and DC is going for; I'm going for the same crowd that horror film releases going for. People who want to take their boyfriend or girlfriend or go out with the girls and go to the movies and get spooked." (12/6/16)

Todd McFarlane gave a brief update on the project, where he revealed the approach he was aiming for with the new movie, saying: "It's not going to be a continuation. It's not going to be a sequel. Scrub the first movie. It's going to be a dark, R-rated, scary, badass sort of script. It's not a nice, polite PG-13. The world's going to be real, except for one thing that's going to move. You're never going to see a dude in a rubber suit....This is going to be my Jaws shark." He is apparently working on a new draft of the script: "I've finished the script, and I'm in the process of editing. It's 183 pages, and [producers] usually like 120. I still think it's going to end up being about 140, because I'm putting in details for myself." (9/17/16)

It's said that the film would utilize more practical effects than CG.

Todd McFarlane had this to say about the new Spawn: "In the background, there’s this thing moving around, this boogeyman. That boogeyman just happens to be something that you and I, intellectually, know is Spawn. Will he look like he did in the first movie? No. Will he have a supervillain he fights? No. He’s going to be the spectre, the ghost."

Todd McFarlane once said that the film wasn't going to be "a giant budget with a lot of special effects; it's going to be more of a horror movie and a thriller movie, not a superhero one."

This was once thought to be the start of a new trilogy.

Michael Jai White once expressed interest in returning as Spawn.

This movie is a reboot and will ignore the 1997 film.

Spawn creator Todd McFarlane has been trying to get a new Spawn movie off the ground since 1998, when it was originally going to be a sequel that was rumored to focus on the detective characters "Sam and Twitch." Eventually the sequel idea was dropped and Todd has been working on this "reboot" for years.


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