Todd McFarlane revealed that the long-awaited Spawn reboot would happen after teasing fans for what seemed like ages and listing conditions a studio had to accept in order to make the film. Blumhouse agreed to those conditions, and McFarlane will write, direct, and produce the movie. What’s interesting is that McFarlane also said that Spawn would be a low-budget film that would stay true to the character, and Blumhouse specializes in making entertaining and successful low-budget films (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Sinister, and others).
So it appears that McFarlane got what he asked for. But, except for a short and some music videos, the Spawn movie would be his directorial debut. Should Spawn fans be concerned, especially since McFarlane said that the film won't necessarily focus on the character?
Jason Blum of Blumhouse said that he trusted Todd McFarlane, even if this is his first foray as a director:
I think he's gonna do a great job. Being a director encompasses a lot of different skills, but one of the most important skills is you have to be a great manager. You're kind of a general of this army that you have to lead into battle every day, and he does that in his life every day running McFarlane Enterprises. So I think that translates to directing in a lot of ways. We've had a great back and forth around developing the script. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think he could do a great job, but we'll see. I have a good feeling about it (via Comic Book Resources).
In regard to the budget, Blum said that they'll use the usual tricks to make it work:
That's a good question. One of the things is we're keeping the scope of the script relatively contained, so that's the biggest way. I think the other way is he and I aren't paying ourselves any money out of the budget, nor will any of the actors, so that's another way. We're using our usual tricks!
Basically, Spawn won't delve too deeply into the mythology behind the character, which isn’t surprising, since McFarlane said that the film will focus on Twitch.
For the moment, Spawn is scheduled for release in 2018.
