Few names in horror inspire more confidence than James Wan. Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring, the man has done it all. So, when any news breaks that Wan and his company are going to produce a new version of a classic comic book, fans have a right to be excited. Dylan Dog fans, we’re talking to you.
Variety reports that Wan and his company, Atomic Monster, will co-produce a 10-episode TV adaptation of Tiziano Sclavi’s Italian horror comic, which was published by Dark Horse in the U.S. The comic, which is about a paranormal investigator who regularly deals with all kinds of monsters, was previously turned into a 2011 film starring Brandon Routh but… no one wants to talk about that. (It grossed just over $1.5 million in the U.S., topping out at $7 million worldwide and boasts a shocking seven per cent score on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.)
“James Wan and Atomic Monster are masters of the horror genre and have a proven sensibility on how best to adapt comics to the screen,” Davide Bonelli, president of Dylan Dog’s publisher, said in a statement. “We are so thrilled to have this dream team working on one of our most important characters.”
With Wan’s team on board, and a bit more space to develop the story on TV, we’d imagine Dylan Dog will, at the very least, get a version that will clean the slate for the franchise after the film. From there, depending on who else gets involved, where it ends up living, etc., there’s a chance it could even revive the franchise as a whole. That’s a long way away, though. For now, we’ll just keep an eye out to see how development moves on this project.
Wan is currently directing a new horror movie, Malignant, which is expected to release next year. He’s then expected to move onto Aquaman 2, which is scheduled for release on December 16, 2022.