24 Frames has learned that Mandeville Films (The Fighter) has gotten the rights from Top Cow to develop a film based on their comic by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis, and David Wohl.
The Darkness revolves around a mobster named Jackie Estacado who turns 21 years old and finds out that he’s inherited this being called The Darkness. (Thanks, Dad!) The Darkness likes to talk to him and encourage his darker side, gifting him with dark powers like demonic minions and the ability to withstand bullets, which is certainly a great perk in Jackie’s line of work. Of course, Jackie has to try and tame this power while dealing with all the backstabbing and murder going on in the Mafia.
It’s actually a pretty awful comic whose terrible dialogue was actually improved in the videogame adaptation, which gave some more humanity to the characters. But the concept of a mob movie mixed with the supernatural could easily make for a fun flick.
This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to make an adaptation of the comic, though- seven years ago Dimension Films failed to do anything with it, but the producers at Mandeville are hoping that the audience is there for more dark comic book adaptations after the success of Nolan’s Batman flicks. Plus, they’re probably sick of being known as the people behind Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
In other Darkness news, 2K Games has just announced that The Darkness II will now have a later release date. It’s been pushed back to next year and a slot of February 7th 2012 in Norther America, February 10th internationally. Anyone at Comic Con this year (unlike us!) can check out playable demos of the game at the Top Cow booth (#2629).