Shortly after news hit that AMC might be ordering a pilot based on Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion’s classic comic Preacher courtesy of badassdigest it seems that Seth Rogen may be involved after posting some rather telling tweets,
For anyone paying attention Preacher has been the subject of numerous attempts to make the transition to the big and small screen over the years, with Mark Steven Johnson and Sam Mendes both being attached at one point. A series was once mooted for HBO before they killed it with Johnson stating ‘The new head of HBO felt it was just too dark and too violent and too controversial.’ (Source)
A fundamental problem with adapting Preacher, a critically acclaimed Kentucky fried Western love story spliced with jet black comedy and brutality which sticks a defiant middle finger up at organised religion along the way, was always going to be its core story is just so offensive and controversial.
After all when your story is about a disillusioned preacher that, after stumbling across the runaway offspring of an angel and demon, inherits ‘The Word’ (as in of God) then goes on a journey to track down God and berate him for abandoning his creation, you know you’re going to turn a few heads. That’s before you even get to the inbred descendants of Jesus Christ being kept a secret by The Vatican and a recurring character called Arseface.
Whilst you could look at their adaptation of The Walking Dead as an indicator they aren’t afraid to do brutal adult oriented programming, there’s a big difference between Rick Grimes story based around killing zombies and Jesse Custer’s quest to track his apathetic creator and the carnage he and his misfit friends, including a hard drinking Irish vampire, leave in their wake.
Is this something you would like to see? Can AMC get it right? Add your thoughts below.
