The internet shook it’s collective head when news recently raced over the wire that Sam Mendes would direct a film based on the long-running Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon comic series Preacher. But that news may have been premature, Mendes tells Empire.
“I’d love to make Preacher, but there’s no script,” Mendes says. “This is a typical Variety announcement. ‘Mendes to direct Preacher’ – I wish! Basically they should have written, ‘Mendes in development with Preacher’. What I’m doing is, I’ve gotta find a script. I’ve just got to get it written.”
The good news is that Mendes seems to be fully aware of the scope of the material, and that it requires more than just one little movie. (How could he not be, really? But many have doubted.) “There’s so much of it you couldn’t possibly fit it all into one movie. It’s just about what you keep and what you leave out, and how you structure the story. But just to have that toy set again, being able to paint on a big canvas and to say ‘I am gonna do crazy crane shots and massive action sequences again because I want to,’ it’s exciting..”
The question stands as to whether this story is adaptable at all. It’s a violent, sick, deliberately transgressive piece of work. Even the most absurd, stupid moments have their charm on paper, but on film I wonder if it wouldn’t just end up looking squalid and silly.