A bit of info I found today:
Mark Steven Johnson Preaches Preacher
The Ghost Rider director on his plans for the HBO comic book adaptation.
by Scott Collura
December 6, 2006 - Mark Steven Johnson has already dabbled in the realm of cinematic hell with his film version of Marvel Comic’s iconic Ghost Rider character (due this coming February), but now he’s got another hellish project in the works: the recently announced HBO series Preacher.
Based on the DC Comics Vertigo series by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, Preacher is the tale of Jesse Custer, a small-town minister who goes on a cross-country search looking for God. Accompanying Custer on his journey is his hitman ex-girlfriend and a drunken vampire pal, and together this trio encounter various demons, angels and other biblical types during their search.
“Preacher I’ve always wanted to do, man,” says Johnson. "I mean, Preacher is like the greatest, but it’s so difficult, and I love it more than anybody. And I remember reading a script awhile ago that was going to go to film and I was like, ‘Uh, how do you make a two-hour movie out of Preacher?’ You can’t do it. So when I went to HBO I said very simply, 'Here’s the comic.
There’s 75 issues plus the four issue Saint of Killers.’ I said, ‘Every issue is an hour. It’s a six-year show.’ And HBO, God bless them, went: ‘Cool.’"
Johnson says the plan is to be not just loyal to the source material, but “exact.” He took his first meeting with HBO just last week, and the filmmaker says that he kept expecting the network to balk at his plans for the very adult series.
“It’s like ? Odin Quincannon having sex with a meat-person,” he laughs, referring to a bit from the comic. “If I can do that, I’ve made my mark on the world! So everything is like so out there and this is it. They were like, ‘God bless.’ I was like, ‘F**king HBO has got balls.’ They were like, ‘Bring it. Do it.’”
As for those fans who have doubted his ability to properly translate Preacher to the screen, Johnson has heard it all before.
“It’s just like Daredevil, it’s just like Ghost Rider,” he says. "No one comes to your door and rings the doorbell and goes, ‘Hey, you want to do these movies?’ I’m the last guy. But I’m the guy who gets it done because I care and I do it. So people have tried to make Daredevil, they’ve tried to make Ghost Rider, and it hasn’t happened. But I got them made.
And Daredevil was [with] mixed results and Ghost Rider I hope much better [results], and Preacher I hope exact! In fact today I e-mailed Kevin Smith and I said, ‘Dude, I just got Preacher. I know you love it. If it goes - and who knows if it will - but if it goes, would you please direct an episode?’ Because I want to go to Kevin. I want to go to Robert Rodriguez.
I want to go to all these people and do guest directors. I think that would be really cool. I want it to be a prestige thing. You love Preacher? Come do a show and let that be – because usually it’s a guest actor. I want it to be guest director, but keep the spirit of it, keep the vibe of it, but also know there will be a different imprint every time when it comes to directing the show.
My job is to help write the shows. I’m working with Garth every day. He’s a big part of it [to] make sure it’s exactly what we want, and then let the director put his imprint on it, but it’s got to be the book."
As Johnson points out, it’s still early in the process, so early in fact that he hasn’t even written an episode. As with Daredevil and Ghost Rider, he says that people have been trying to adapt Preacher “for years and years and years.” Johnson’s fingers are crossed that his attempt will be the one that finally brings the comic to life. Part of the process, Johnson hopes, will be keeping the creator of the comic involved in the show.
“If he wants to be [involved], absolutely,” says Johnson. "I’ve never met him [before, so] I was like, ‘It’s so great to talk to you and ask questions.’ And as always happens with the creators, they’re like, 'Dude, don’t be beholden to the source material.
I just did that because, you know, A, B, or C.’ He was like, ‘I just did what I did. Do whatever you want.’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, no. It has to be exactly that.’ So he’s the one that’s going, ‘Use your own thing.’ But I said to Garth, ‘Tell me are there any stories you wanted to tell but you weren’t able to? Was there something that you wanted to do but didn’t have time for? I want to hear that too.’ Because we want to fill it out, we want to make it like a six-year show or above with a definite ending, ending the way it does which is incredibly controversial. Again, no one would have the balls to do this but HBO."
When asked whether or not he thinks the success of NBC’s hit show Heroes had anything to do with HBO’s taking on Preacher, Johnson says he doubts it. The two properties bear little resemblance beyond their shared comic book vibe, and Johnson says that HBO has been in talks to pick up Preacher for some time now. He sees the project as being more similar to Ghost Rider, in fact, though ultimately Preacher is going to be easier to adapt.
“Ghost Rider came in and out of circulation for years for a reason, because it had flaws,” he says. “The image was great, the idea was great. So my goal was to find out what were the strengths and then what could I bring to it. ? Preacher doesn’t need that. Preacher is perfect in my opinion. All the things that made people go, ‘Nah, it’s not for me,’ make me go, ‘Yeah!’ That’s what I’m so excited about.”