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Draft:King Spawn

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King Spawn
Written by
Based onCharacters
by Todd McFarlane
Produced by
Starring
Production
companies
Release date
2025
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

King Spawn is an upcoming American superhero horror film written by Matt Mixon, Malcolm Spellman and Scott Silver. It is based on the Image Comics character Spawn and is the second live-action film to focus on the character, acting as a reboot to the 1997 film Spawn. The film is set to star Jeremy Renner as Maximilian "Twitch" Williams III, with Jamie Foxx as Albert "Al" Simmons / Spawn. The film will be produced by Todd McFarlane and Jason Blum, for their respective Todd McFarlane Entertainment and Blumhouse Productions banners.

The film has languished in development hell, initially planned as a sequel to the 1997 film. In 2007, McFarlane began writing the script, having the premise altered to a standalone film. In 2016, McFarlane completed the screenplay, and became attached as director with Blumhouse involved the following year. In 2018, Foxx and Renner were cast in the film. Various screenwriters were involved, until Silver, Spellman, and Mixon were finally attached in 2022. Filming was delayed numerous times, with it currently set to commence in 2024. The script was completed in July 2024, alongside the announcement of the film's title, with the search for a director underway.

Cast

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Production

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Earlier plans as sequel

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In 1998, the film was initially conceived as a standalone sequel to Spawn (1997) starring Michael Jai White, with a primary focus on the detective characters Sam and Twitch, with Spawn being planned to serve as a background character.[4] Producer Don Murphy signed onto the project in 2001.[5]

Development

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In 2007, McFarlane Funding announced development of a new feature film adaptation of the character, titled Spawn, scheduled for release in 2008.[6][7] During an interview on the Scott Ferrall: Coast to Coast show on Sirius Satellite Radio, McFarlane said: "It's coming out no matter what. Even if I have to produce, direct and finance it myself, it's going to come out."[8]

McFarlane announced on August 2009 that he had begun writing the screenplay for a new movie based on the character, saying that "the story has been in my head for 7 or 8 years[...] The movie idea is neither a recap or continuation. It is a standalone story that will be R-rated. Creepy and scary", and that "the tone of this Spawn movie will be for a more older audience. Like the film The Departed."[9] Jai White said in July 2011 that he was interested in returning to the role, expressing his support for McFarlane's film.[10] In July 2013, Jamie Foxx said he was "aggressively pursuing" the Spawn reboot.[11] In August 2013, McFarlane discussed his progress with the script, stating that the film would be "more of a horror movie and a thriller movie, not a superhero one".[12]

Pre-production

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In February 2016, McFarlane announced he had completed the film's script.[13] In July 2017, Blumhouse Productions confirmed their involvement with the film, while announcing that McFarlane had also signed on to direct the project.[14] The film was expected to begin production by February 2018.[15] In May 2018, it was announced that Jamie Foxx would portray the titular character.[16] In July 2018, it was reported that Jeremy Renner would be starring alongside Foxx as Detective Twitch.[17] In September 2018, Greg Nicotero and KNB EFX Group were hired to create the special effects for the film.[18][19] On October 25, 2018, the filming start date was delayed to June 2019.[20]

In November 2019, the film restarted development due to the financial success of the R-rated comic book film Joker.[21][22] In December 2019, McFarlane hired an additional writer to help polish the script, before presenting it to a major Hollywood studio.[23][24] In February 2020, McFarlane announced that production news on the film will be revealed the following month.[25][26] Later that month, an unnamed Academy Award-winning screenwriter departed the film, due to scheduling conflicts.[27] In April 2020, McFarlane mentioned his first "subpar" draft of the screenplay had a hand in the film taking so long to get made.[28] In May 2020, the film's producer Jason Blum revealed that "There has been an enormous amount of activity on Spawn. No new news that I'm going to reveal here, I'm sorry to tell you, but the title 'Spawn,' I've been uttering that word a lot in the last two or three weeks and we'll have more news to come. But, suffice it to say, it is in very active development."[29][30] In August 2021, it was revealed that Brian Tucker had been hired to rewrite the screenplay, who had experience writing in the comic book media, as he wrote several episodes for Marvel Studios' miniseries Secret Invasion (2023).[31] In July 2022, McFarlane mentioned that there had been discussions about potentially abandoning the movie concept and developing Spawn into a streaming series instead.[32] He also mentioned that there would be an update later that year at New York Comic Con 2022, which was set to run from October 6–9.[33] In August 2022, Foxx announced he was still attached to the film, saying he is "getting this right", while comparing the film's tone and budget to Joker.[34] In October 2022, it was announced that Scott Silver, Malcolm Spellman, and Matthew Mixon had been hired to pen a new draft on the screenplay; the former two having experience writing in the comic book media, as Silver co-wrote DC Films' Joker and it's sequel Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), while Spellman served as the series creator for Marvel Studios' miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) and co-wrote the film Captain America: Brave New World (2025). McFarlane has also expressed his doubts on him staying attached as director, as well as the involvement of Renner being unknown.[35] In March 2023, McFarlane revealed that the movie's budget would increase from the previously estimated $10 million and that some major A-list talent had been attached to the film.[36] In June 2023, Blum mentioned the film was still in very active development, despite the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, and that he gave an estimated release date of 2025.[37] Scriptwriting was eventually suspended for the duration of the WGA strike.[38] In September 2023, following the conclusion of the 2023 WGA strike and during press junkets for The Exorcist: Believer, Blum doubled down on the 2025 release date.[39] That same month, composer Charlie Clouser expressed interest in composing the score for the Spawn reboot.[40] In January 2024, McFarlane revealed that if Blumhouse doesn't begin production on the film later that year, he'll make it with outside investors.[41] In July 2024, McFarlane revelaed the film's title would be King Spawn, and reaffirmed the invovlement of Mixon, Spellman, Silver, and Blum in the project.[42] That same month, it was reported that, following the completion of the film's script, the project was undergoing a search for a new director. It was also expressed that it was unknown if Jamie Foxx would still be attached to the project.[43]

Filming

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Filming was expected to commence in either February 2018,[15] or June 2019,[20] but was delayed for unknown reasons. In March 2020, McFarlane announced that filming was set to begin before the end of the year.[44][45] However, this has since changed due to the events of the COVID-19 pandemic.[citation needed] In October 2022, McFarlane said they planned to begin filming in early 2023.[46] In February 2023, McFarlane teased that a draft of the script to sell would be ready by mid-2023, but commencing forward could be delayed due to the "Hollywood double strike".[47]

Release

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King Spawn is set to be theatrically released in 2025, by Blumhouse Productions.[37][39]

Spin-off series

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In April 2020, McFarlane teased the possibility of a television series spin-off of King Spawn.[48] In June 2021, it was revealed that a Sam and Twitch TV show was in the works from Jason Smilovic and Todd Katzberg, with McFarlane executive producing under his McFarlane Films television banner alongside wiip's Paul Lee and Mark Roybal.[49]

References

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  1. ^ Burwick, Kevin (July 9, 2018). "Jeremy Renner Is Twitch Williams in the 'Spawn' Reboot". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  2. ^ Scott, Ryan (May 29, 2018). "Jamie Foxx Is 'Spawn' in McFarlane's Blumhouse Reboot". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on May 30, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  3. ^ Salkowitz, Rob (April 8, 2020). "Todd McFarlane's Urgent Warning To The Comics Industry: 'We Can't Just Sit Here And Do Nothing!'". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  4. ^ Head, Steve (March 12, 2001). "Michael Jai White Gives IGN FilmForce the Latest on 'Spawn 2'". IGN. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  5. ^ Murphy, Don (July 10, 2003). "Who Might Direct Transformers?". IGN. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  6. ^ Weinberg, Scott (June 4, 2007). "Todd McFarlane Funding a New 'Spawn' Movie?". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on August 19, 2007. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  7. ^ "Todd McFarlane Begins Work on New 'Spawn' Film". Bloody Disgusting. October 26, 2007. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2017 – via Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ Amaya, Erik (September 16, 2016). "Todd McFarlane Promises A Dark 'Spawn' Movie ... Again". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  9. ^ "McFarlane Starts Writing New 'Spawn' Movie". ComingSoon.net. August 23, 2009. Archived from the original on July 4, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  10. ^ Kendrick, Ben (July 21, 2011). "Michael Jai White Wants to Return for a Hard-R Rated 'Spawn' Movie". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  11. ^ Davis, Erik (July 19, 2013). "Comic-Con Interview: Jamie Foxx on 'Spider-Man', 'Annie,' 'Sinister Six' and... a 'Booty Call' Sequel?". Movies.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2016 – via Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ McMillan, Graeme (August 26, 2013). "Todd McFarlane Suggests 'Spawn' Remake Could Shoot Next Year". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  13. ^ Siegel, Lucas (February 14, 2016). "Exclusive: Todd McFarlane Is Finished with New 'Spawn' Movie Script". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  14. ^ Kit, Borys (July 21, 2017). "New 'Spawn' Movie in the Works From Todd McFarlane, Blumhouse". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Evans, Greg (October 5, 2017). "Todd McFarlane Confirms February Start For 'Dark, R-Rated' 'Spawn'; Pledges Daily Facebook Updates – Comic Con". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  16. ^ Fleming Jr., Mike (May 29, 2018). "Jamie Foxx Set For 'Spawn,' Creator Todd McFarlane's Dark Blumhouse Adaptation". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  17. ^ Ramée, Jordan (July 9, 2018). "Jeremy Renner Set To Star In 'Spawn' Movie Alongside Jamie Foxx". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  18. ^ Ridgely, Charlie (September 9, 2018). "'The Walking Dead's Greg Nicotero Officially Joins Todd McFarlane's 'Spawn' Reboot". ComicBook. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  19. ^ Kit, Borys (August 29, 2018). "'Walking Dead's' Greg Nicotero Joins Todd McFarlane's 'Spawn' Movie as Creature Designer". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  20. ^ a b Scott, Ryan (October 25, 2018). "'Spawn' Shoot Has Been Delayed Until Summer 2019". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  21. ^ Barfield, Charles (November 1, 2019). "Todd McFarlane Says 'Joker' Has Created More Interest From Hollywood In His R-Rated 'Spawn' Reboot". The Playlist. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  22. ^ Scott, Ryan (October 31, 2019). "'Spawn' Reboot May Finally Get Going Thanks to 'Joker' Success". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  23. ^ Seigh, Steve (December 2, 2019). "Todd McFarlane's New 'Spawn' Film Getting Cleaned Up By A Second Filmmaker". JoBlo.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  24. ^ Scott, Ryan (December 2, 2019). "'Spawn' Reboot Script Is Getting Polished, Todd McFarlane Promises It's Still Coming". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  25. ^ Scott, Ryan (January 23, 2020). "Todd McFarlane Refuses to Let His 'Spawn' Reboot Die, Promises Big News Soon". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  26. ^ Collinson, Gary (February 4, 2020). "Todd McFarlane hopes to have a big 'Spawn' movie announcement "in the next month"". Flickering Myth. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  27. ^ Barfield, Charles (March 9, 2020). "'Spawn': Todd McFarlane Is "Less Concerned" With The Plot As Long As The Character Is "Cool" & "Badass"". The Playlist. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  28. ^ "Todd McFarlane Blames His First, Subpar 'Spawn' Script For Making It Difficult To Get The Reboot Made". theplaylist.net. April 15, 2020. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  29. ^ Scott, Ryan (May 25, 2020). "'Spawn' Reboot Producer Teases Seismic Event, Says News Is Coming Soon". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  30. ^ Cavanaugh, Patrick (May 22, 2020). "'Spawn' Producer Jason Blum Teases "Seismic Event" for Production (Exclusive)". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  31. ^ Kit, Borys (August 13, 2021). "'Spawn' Movie Gets 'Broken City' Scribe as New Writer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  32. ^ Lund, Anthony (July 27, 2022). "Todd McFarlane Gives Hope to Spawn Reboot Escaping Development Hell". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  33. ^ Blum, Jeremy (July 22, 2022). "Todd McFarlane Reveals When a Big Spawn Movie Announcement Will Arrive". CBR. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  34. ^ Barfield, Charles (August 8, 2022). "Jamie Foxx Compares New 'Spawn' Film To 'Joker' & Is Still Working On "Getting This Right"". The Playlist. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  35. ^ Couch, Aaron (October 5, 2022). "'Spawn' Movie Finds New Writers with 'Joker,' 'Captain America 4' Scribes (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  36. ^ Perine, Aaron (March 24, 2023). "Todd McFarlane Reveals Spawn Becoming Bigger Budget Movie With A-List Talent Attached". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  37. ^ a b "Spawn Movie in Very, Very Active Development, Predicted 2025 Release According to Blumhouse Head Jason Blum (Exclusive)". Comic Book. June 28, 2023. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  38. ^ Zinski, Dan (September 22, 2023). "Spawn Reboot Writers Were THIS Close To Finishing The Script Before The Strike". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  39. ^ a b "Jason Blum Stands by Spawn 2025 Release Date, Says Script They Feel Great About Is Close (Exclusive)". ComicBook. September 29, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  40. ^ "Saw Composer Charlie Clouser Wants to Score the Upcoming Spawn Film". ComicBook. September 29, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  41. ^ "Todd McFarlane Has Outside Investors Waiting to Make Spawn Movie if Hollywood Doesn't Make It Happen This Year (Exclusive)". ComicBook. January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  42. ^ Squires, John (July 22, 2024). "'King Spawn' – Jason Blum Teases New Screenplay for Long-Awaited 'Spawn' Movie". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  43. ^ Couch, Aaron (July 25, 2024). "'Spawn' Movie on the Hunt for a Director". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  44. ^ Sprague, Mike (March 3, 2020). "Todd McFarlane says R-rated 'Spawn' reboot happening this year!". JoBlo.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  45. ^ Scott, Ryan (March 3, 2020). "'Spawn' Reboot Will Shoot This Year Thanks to the Success of 'Joker'". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on March 4, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  46. ^ @todd_mcfarlane (October 5, 2022). "BREAKING #SPAWNMOVIE NEWS!!!!" (Tweet). Retrieved October 5, 2022 – via Twitter.
  47. ^ Periera, Sergio (February 17, 2023). "EXCLUSIVE: Todd McFarlane Explores the Spawn Universe and Shares Details on Jamie Foxx Film". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  48. ^ Damaske, Damion (April 16, 2020). "Todd McFarlane Says Live-Action 'Spawn' TV Series A Possibility". JoBlo.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  49. ^ Couch, Aaron (June 10, 2021). "Todd McFarlane Developing 'Sam and Twitch' TV Show". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
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