It was revealed (fittingly, on Halloween) that the big-screen adaptation of Image Comics’ hit Darkchylde has finally found a director in horror legend John Carpenter, who will also produce alongside the comic’s creator, Randy Queen. The announcement came with a first look at the teaser poster.
A Darkchylde film has been in development for several years, owing to its major crossover appeal: First released in 1996, the comic’s especially large female fan-base helped it hold the No. 1 “hottest comic” spot in both Wizard and Combo magazines for nine months, and to outsell even Spider-Man, Superman, The Hulk, and Batman at the time. It also spawned a huge merchandising line of apparel, toys, trading cards, etc. For those unfamiliar, the story—which concerns an “amiable Southern girl” who’s cursed to transform into the creatures she imagines in her nightmares, and then must save her town from the forces of darkness she sets upon them—is now available to read online at Wowio and Darkchylde.com.
For Carpenter, it’s part of his return to filmmaking since 2001’s Ghosts Of Mars, which recently kicked off with this year’s Amber Heard-starring The Ward. It remains to be seen whether Darkchylde will make it to the screen before Carpenter’s still-in-development Fangland.