Even with the questionable performances ofBatman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeandSuicide Squadon the whole, the DC adaptation train has no time for slowing down. And, in fact, they might be learning a thing or two from their brethren at Marvel, as it turns out.THR reportedyesterday thatThe Monolith,Justin GrayandJimmy Palmiotti’s DC series, is now in the works as a major motion picture with Lionsgate. More importantly, the company has tappedDave Wilson, the creative director of Blur Studio, to direct the film from a script byBarnett Brettler. Blur Studio is, of course, the company run byDeadpooldirectorTim Miller, who made inarguably the most noteworthy comic-book adaptation of the year thus far.
The story ofThe Monolithis remarkably similar to the tale of the Golem, a Jewish folk tale that tells of a clay-made hulk that can be ordered to kill and destroy by its maker. In Palmiotti and Gray’s comics, the creature is discovered by a young woman who has recently moved into the home of her deceased grandmother, after reading about the creature in her grandmother’s diary. Chaos, violence, and death ensues, naturally, as the humongous beast is called into action by its new owner as a defender, rather than an agent of evil.
This sounds like exactly the kind of comic book movie that would do well under Lionsgate’s banner, which built a considerable part of its business off of low-budget, big-idea horror and action films.The Monolithostensibly can be built as a horror film with a supernatural superhero edge to the whole thing, giving Wilson some stylistic room to play and be inventive, much likeDeadpool. This would be Wilson’s first proper feature, after working on video games and trailers, and it would also be Brettler’s first script outside of the world of spec writing. If DC adaptations have been in the market for new blood, they have seemingly found it with this project.
