Paramount is looking to turn the hilarious and filthy graphic novel, The Pro, into a feature film. Producer Erwin Stoff is currently overseeing relatively newcomer screenwriter Zoe McCarthy’s work on adapting the comic created by Garth Ennis, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti.
The comic, which puts the graphic in graphic novel, centers on a single-mother prostitute who discovers that she has superpowers. Of course, she immediately heads off to join the local Justice League-type team of heroes because she thinks she’ll get a steady paycheck. Things get worse from there.
Honestly, I am surprised that this project hasn’t been announced sooner in the wake of the success seen by last year’s Deadpool. Once that movie started making big bucks off of it’s relatively small cost, I am sure that all studios were scrambling to find a similar comedically-toned, potentially R-rated superhero character of their own. The book, originally published in 2002, is chock full of raunchy jokes, while at the same deconstructing the hyper-sexualized depictions seen in many comic book characters. Of course, the real success of Deadpool was in its adherence to the spirit of the comic. If this movie does the same, be prepared for a movie that could come to blows with the MPAA in a struggle over exactly what you can get away with in an R-rated film.
The Pro has been in and out of some form of development for most of the last decade. Back in 2008, the comic was being developed as an animated series. When that didn’t pan out, an effort was made to develop a live-action version, with Palmiotti publicly stating that he would like Sarah Silverman to star in the title role.
