New ‘Spawn’ Movie Could Start Filming As Early As Next Year

A new Spawn movie could begin filming as early as next year, Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane said.

“The reality is that I’ve got a lot of pressure,” McFarlane told The Gate at Fan Expo Canada. “They want me to deliver the script by the end of the year, which would basically mean we’d be shooting next year. So, that’s the goal right now.”

McFarlane said that the other issue slowing down the process is the fact that he will be writing, directing, and producing the film. This has caused him to postpone other projects in order to get “tunnel vision” on Spawn, which he believes will take 60 to 70 days to shoot.

“I think it’s a quick shoot. It’s not going to be a giant budget with a lot of special effects, it’s going to be more of a horror movie and a thriller movie, not a superhero one,” he said. “I’ve got so many people phoning now that I’ve got to get it done. I’ve made some promises to people this year.”

The 1997 Spawn film starred Michael Jai White as Al Simmons, a soldier who is killed and is resurrected as Spawn, the leader of Hell’s army. The film had a $40 million budget — way below the $200 million it cost to make the last two Iron Man films — which it doubled, but it also received largely negative reviews. However, the film is notable for its historical significance — White was the first black actor to play a major comic book superhero in a feature film.

A sequel to Spawn has been in “development hell” for 15 years, and White confirmed himself to be part of the project in 2001. However, other actors — including Jamie Foxx — have spoken about wanting the role.

“You know what, we’ve had some big names – like who you’re mentioning – come to the office and go ‘We want to be in it,'” Todd McFarlane said. “Sometimes they give me their pitch, I give them my pitch, I go, ‘We can get in it, this is how it goes,’ and so those types of actors–Academy Award guys – they’re going, ‘As soon as that script’s done, we’re going.’ So once we get this thing done, we’ll get it off the ground with some big names.”