Todd McFarlane Says His SPAWN Movie Is Gonna Be Like JAWS

The threat of another Spawn movie has loomed large for over a decade, and last year we learned that someone was finally pulling the trigger. Namely, Blumhouse, the company behind Get Out, Happy Death Day and a number of other well-built, high-earning, relatively low-budget horror offerings. In the director's chair: none other than Spawn creator Todd McFarlane himself, who seemed to have single-handedly willed this reboot into existence after many, many years spent trying to get it off the ground elsewhere.

Well, believe it or not, that movie's still happening, and in a recent interview with azcentral, McFarlane opened up a bit on where his head's at with the project:

“I like to explain that it's my Jaws. Spawn doesn't say a word the entire movie, and it's the same way with Jaws. It's about the sheriff and the people, chasing the ghost. That's it...The lead role isn’t Spawn, the lead role is a cop, like Sheriff Brody from Jaws. I think we can hook a fairly significant actor that we want. Unlike a superhero movie, we wouldn't need an actor to put on prosthetic (makeup) or go to the gym. We just need him to act."

First of all, Todd McFarlane is right: the shark doesn't speak in Jaws, and the film is, indeed, mainly about Chief Brody and his motley crew attempting to take that non-verbal beast down (go look at Wikipedia, it's all laid out there, clear as day).

Secondly, the idea of a Spawn movie where we rarely see Spawn and never hear him speak is actually somewhat compelling. Of course the original Spawn movie was a roaring dumpster fire (ed. note - fans of ill-advised cinema are strongly encouraged to revisit the original Spawn at their earliest convenience), but that doesn't mean this one has to be, as well. Plus, the new Spawn might even land "a fairly significant actor" for its lead role (paging Costas Mandylor). Very exciting!

Spawn is currently budgeted at $10M, and will mark Todd McFarlane's directorial debut (hey, remember when Frank Miller made The Spirit? That definitely owned). Right now, the plan calls for the film to hit theaters in 2019. We'll keep you informed as further updates roll in.