Hot off the heels of co-writing Watchmen, Alex Tse has just been signed on to adapt the upcoming graphic novel Battling Boy. The source material was written and illustrated by Paul Pope back in November and it’s about the son of a god who is sent down by his father from the top of a mountain to rid the giant city of Monstropolis of a plague of beasts.
The rights were recently picked up by Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B, and the film will be co-produced by Paramount Pictures. This is only part of an overall deal between the two companies to bring a slate of adaptations to the big-screen including Eat, Pray, Love (directed by Ryan Murphy), The Killer, The Black Hole (both David Fincher projects) and World War Z (set to be directed by Quantum of Solace helmer Marc Forster).
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Although Tse has little experience with adapting (and script writing in general) with only Watchmen and his previously written Spike Lee non-comic-book film Sucker Free City beforehand, Battling Boy certainly won’t be his last. He also has the live-action adaptation of the Japanese anime Ninja Scroll in the works, as well as The Illustrated Man, which is based on a set of 1951 science fiction stories by Ray Bradbury. He’s also adapting Frankie Machine for director Michael Mann.
It seems that people were impressed (and so they should be) with the contribution Tse made to the film version of Watchmen. He’s become a hot property, as they say, and I wish him luck with his upcoming projects.
As for the premise, am I the only one who thinks the story of Battling Boy sounds a bit on the ridiculous side? I’m sure it’s something that the writer of the graphic novel, Paul Pope, thinks works on the printed comic page, but what works there doesn’t automatically work on the big-screen. I’m not saying it can’t or won’t work, but working off that as a written plot (if they’re going to stick exactly to the source material), it’s going to take a lot of work just to stop it feeling extremely cheesy.
So, do you think Battling Boy will work as a movie? What do you think of Watchmen co-writer Tse adapting it?
Screen Rant will keep you up-to-date on the Battling Boy adaptation as more news gets released.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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1 Comments
Paul Pope is very much an artist first, he isn’t a typical contemporary comic book writer. his ideas are strange and unique, a mixture of retro and future. and as far as I’ve noted well planed out. so when you get a strange concept or a funky design, it’s because it’s Paul Pope, it’s what he does. I think he has a refreshing view on the comic world. Making it less of a kids novelty and more of what Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman do (did), in the medium. Another writer like this would be Grant Morrison, but he doesn’t draw.
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