When we last checked in on the planned adaptation of the Garth Ennis Darrick Robertson created comic book The Boys, it looked as if it was pretty much dead. But Anchorman director Adam McKay tweeted last night that the project is definitely alive, just now at a different studio.
@shaunbarger Actually paramount picked it up and we’re still developing.— Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) August 15, 2012
The hyper-violent satire charting the adventures of a CIA black ops team tasked with monitoring superhero activity across the globe, and if necessary, deal with them when they would get too out-of-hand was originally published at DC Comics. However, the project was cut loose from the published after a rather high-up executive took an agressive dislike to the book. Ennis and Robertson were able to place the comic over at Dynamite, where it has become the indie publisher’s top seller.
One of the characters, named Hughie, was based on actor Simon Pegg, and though Pegg stated he was flattered by the depiction, he did state he thought he might be too old to actually play the Hughie if the film ever got off the ground. The project was first set up at Columbia in 2009, and at the time Ennis was pretty enthusiastic about its chances of getting made.
Writers Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay were the ones who primarily worked on the screenplay for Columbia, although Seth Rogen reportedly did a draft as well. Russell Crowe circled the project at one point, considering the lead role of Billy Butcher, but not even that kind of interest could get the film a green light.
Currently, the comic is wrapping up its run this fall, with Ennis reaching the end point Ennis envisioned when he first started developing the comic.
Via Bleeding Cool.
