Is It Possible To Do Preacher On TV?

AMC thinks so. Undoubtedly seeing it as a comic book property that can be the next Walking Dead, the cable channel has ordered a pilot for Preacher, which will be developed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and have a screenplay written by Sam Catlin, who will also be showrunner.

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No problems there, especially with Rogen and Goldberg pledging their love for the Vertigo series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and promising they “won’t make too many dick jokes and ruin it.” I tend to believe them.

A better question is whether AMC, even with its history of big ratings in the blood-soaked world of The Walking Dead, will allow some of the graphic sex, violence and disturbing imagery that helps make Preacher the story that it is. HBO already turned down an earlier attempt to adapt the comic for TV, explaining that it was too dark and its religious concepts — the main character is a Texas preacher who merges with an entity called Genesis that possesses the powers of Heaven and Hell, and then goes searching for God to make him own up for his failures — too explosive.

AMC is no doubt well aware of this, so the question is how far it will allow Rogen, Goldberg and Catlin to push things. As fans, we have to be at least a little wary of the fact that the chaneel could neuter the source material at least a little bit, and then the question is whether Preacher is really Preacher without its most controversial parts, some of which are used to shock, others used to make you think and even some that are intended as comic relief.

On one hand, there are some things in the comic I’d rather not see on live action TV, images that’ll be burned into my brain even more fiercely if acted out by real people. Preacher is clearly headed to a place, maybe the only one, that would have a stomach for stuff like that, but if AMC says no to certain scenes, it makes you wonder if Preacher can really be adapted at all.

We’ll have a longer wait than first thought, as the series won’t be coming until 2016 if it gets a full order. Let’s just say that there will be plenty of anxious fans waiting to see how it turns out.

(via Deadline)

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