Hey folks, Harry here with this report on the PREACHER movie... I've been pretty much disinterested in this movie ever since finding out that Rachel Talalay. I'm not saying it's impossible for her to get this right... but I hate both TANK GIRL (though I acknowledge it's cult following, I just don't agree) and her Kruger movie (the worst of the lot in my opinion)... I just don't like her films thus far... I'm keeping my fingers crossed... I want her to kick my ass with her film, but it's a Missouri thing... It's a 'Show Me' movie... And... to add another layer to this... I love PREACHER. I'm prepared for disappointment, but hoping to be pleased... here's the report...

Dear everyone,

It seems that my mention of a Preacher movie stirred up things quite a bit. While I do enjoy casting speculations and fan comments just like everyone else here, I can't really understand why so many people flamed me with fanboy accusations. Hell, I even gave you the name of the company to check for yourself! Also, you might have heard of a little thing called "Variety", which happens to list Preacher among the many dozens of projects currently in the making. For anyone interested, however, the contact address for Storm Entertainment (the movie production) is:

225 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite 601
CA 90401
Tel: (310) 656-2500

Now, back to hard facts. While I simply don't have the time to retype the whole 16 pages of the official dossier (sans the press clips concerning the involved names and the comic itself), here are the most interestings data I left out from my former report:

· The role of Tulip has been offered to Heather Graham (Austin Powers 2)

· Producers: Tom Astor (Tank Girl), Rupert Harvey (Plunkett & Macleane, Critters, The Blob)

· Executive producers: H. Michael Hauser (Hurlyburly), Kevin Smith (You know.), Scott Mosier (Clerks, Good Will Hunting, Dogma)

· A line titled "Status" says "Preacher will qualify as a 'European Work'" - Whatever that means

· Contrary to what I formerly stated, Grandma is to die in the early part of the movie. Other departures from the "Gone to Texas" storyline used as a basis for the movie are the death of the Saint of Killers via his own otherwordly weapons; no Assface; The Saint using Cass as bait to lure the Preacher; The movie ends just after the formal announcing of God's departure by one of his nerdish angels; the proposed main song for the soundtrack is Willie Nelson's "In the Time of the Preacher".

· In a chapter called "Director's Vision" Rachel Talalay tries desperately to pass for a diehard comics fan and Preacher disciple. Her comments are (verbatim): "My vision is for a new kind of Western - with the honor and codes of the Old West combined with the complexity of the modern world. It's good Vs. Evil in a place where good is struggling to exist at all it. Our flawed heroes with their complex backgrounds walk tall in the saddles of their pickup trucks and confront the evil of past present and future" . "One of the most exciting aspects of the movie for me will be the creation of the iconographic imagery of heaven and hell colliding - way beyond anything imagined by the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Preacher is the opportunity to take religious imagery and, using the world of the newest digital effects, create the most startling view of the most classic images. It's blood and flesh and wings and demons in the melting pot of Power Goo." . "I went to a forum on Preacher where the devotees were honoring Steve Dillon for creating the best bullet hits in comic book history. That's a challenge to create in film. Preacher is set in a violent world. But it is not about the horror of violence. It's about hte humor inherent in the vision of such an excess of violence."

My personal comment: making a Preacher movie is obviously difficult, but I don't think that the plot as described in the synopsis will work very well, as it tries to cram up a lot of background in the first half, and lets go with Blood & Guns & "the melting pot of Power Goo" quite pointlessly in the second half. The open end sucks badly, especially cutting like that, and the general adaptation sounds suspiciously like a bad Marvel Tv movie (changed characters, absurdly thin storyline, lots of selfimportance, sufficiency in thinking "it's just a comic" and such). The cast would be great (and yes, Jack Palance would make a much better Saint of Killers), but of course none of those actors will ever accept such a low scale movie. Don't kill me for this, but I honestly think that Talalay's Tank Girl is our best hope for a comic adaptation which retains the flavor of the original - come on, TG was bad, but it was supposed to be like that: didn't you read the books?

Anyway - the producers are formally noticed that when they'll need a replacement for Mr. Depp, they can ask me for the role of Jesse Custer anytime. I'm a natural and I'm cheap - and I could settle for the Jesus De Sade role anyway.

See you, fanboys.