Back in March, "Preacher" director D.J. Caruso surprised a lot of comics fans by dropping the names of a few well-known actors he'd like to cast in the long-awaited adaptation of the gritty Vertigo comic book series.

Along with naming "Star Trek" actor Chris Pine as his choice for main character Jesse Custer and "I Am Number Four" star Alex Pettyfer as Saint of Killers, Caruso mentioned "Transformers" franchise actor Shia LaBeouf as someone he'd cast as the horrifically scarred Arseface. With that in mind, MTV News made sure to ask LaBeouf about the role during the "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" press junket.

"I love the ['Preacher'] comics," LaBeouf told MTV News. "I think Arseface would be awesome." Read More...

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Just about a month ago now, D.J. Caruso officially confirmed his involvement as the director of an upcoming adaptation of the Garth Ennis comic book series "Preacher." The project has been brewing for a long time in Hollywood, and now it finally seems to be coming together.

In a recent overseas interview pegged to the release of Caruso's "I Am Number Four" the director spoke at length about the coming adaptation, casting, and the challenges of porting such a potentially controversial story over to the big screen.

"It is a crazy road trip and I think what’s amazing and what makes Sony so brave is they can see there’s a real universality to the story when you have good vs. evil," he told CloneWeb. "I think when you have these crazy characters, that are not necessarily politically correct, there’s something generally attractive to those characters and those elements." Read More...

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There's been a ramp-up of news on the "Preacher" adaptation front in recent days, with rumors pointing to "I Am Number Four" director DJ Caruso taking the reins. Now the news is official, confirmed by the filmmaker himself.

Caruso took to Twitter last night with a short and sweet update: "My deal just closed on Preacher. Going back to the dark side and pretty f---ing pumped!"

It doesn't get much more concrete than that. Read More...

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PreacherAt this point, it's easier to list all of the directors who haven't been connected with a a live-action adaptation of the Vertigo comic book series "Preacher" at one point or another. From Mark Steven Johnson ("Ghost Rider") to Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") — and even Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan") — the list of filmmakers associated with the project is long, and getting longer.

Earlier this week, SlashFilm reported that one of its "well placed Hollywood spys" [sic] had indicated that "I Am Number Four" director D.J. Caruso was currently in talks to direct the long-awaited "Preacher" movie. While the initial report offered little in the way of official confirmation, Spinoff Online now indicates that the subject of "Preacher" came up in conversation with the director hours before the original rumor began circulating. Read More...

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PreacherBetween the "Superman" reboot and the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" sequel, critically acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky has found himself caught in the comic book movie rumor mill. And apparently, it's not stopping with those two projects.

Citing an anonymous source, Newsarama reports that Aronofsky is in contention for another comic book project — an adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's "Preacher" for Columbia Pictures. The report states that Aronofsky is "being targeted" to direct the film, which would almost certainly pose a scheduling conflict with both Christopher Nolan's planned "Superman" overhaul and "Wolverine 2," as all of these films could enter production in 2011.

Newsarama was unable to attain confirmation from "Preacher" co-production houses Original Films and Kickstart Productions, so consider Aronofsky's involvement as a rumor for now — but a very intriguing rumor nonetheless. Read More...

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TaskmasterWith "The A-Team" finally set to burst into theaters later on this week, director Joe Carnahan has already set his sights on two comic book properties as potential future projects.

While his interest in Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion's "Preacher" is unsurprising, Carnahan's passion for the Marvel supervillain (and frequent "Avengers" foe) Taskmaster is also evident. Carnahan recently spoke out about the "Taskmaster" adaptation he was previously on board for, along with "A-Team" producer Alex Young.

"Originally I wanted to do 'Juggernaut' 'cause I had a really good take on that," Carnahan told Superhero Hype. "And then 'Taskmaster' was something we talked about [and] I haven't discussed it with [Young] for ages, but I would love to get back in. I love the idea of a guy with photographic reflexes, he can see something and repeat it, I thought that was such a cool idea." Read More...

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The BoysAs one-half of the creative team behind "The Boys," writer Garth Ennis knows a thing or two about what makes his superhero-policing black ops squad work on the page — and, as I discovered in an interview with the popular author, what makes them ripe for big-screen adaptation, too.

"I do think 'The Boys' will be reasonably simple to make into a film — much easier than 'Preacher,'" Ennis told MTV News during last month's C2E2 convention in Chicago.

Comparing "The Boys" to his well-known Vertigo series that's had potential adaptations in the works for almost a decade now, the writer said the difference between "Preacher" and "The Boys" is that "once you start plucking enough of 'Preacher' to make a two-hour film, you have to leave so much out of it. And once you start taking bits out of it, the whole lot collapses."

"On the other hand, it would be quite easy to take 'The Boys' and take the core team of five and just have them as a team that surveils and occasionally beats up superheroes," he explained. "That's a simple enough concept that you could isolate it and put into a two-hour film as a self-contained story." Read More...

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The InvisiblesBy Josh Wigler and Rick Marshall

There's no denying that comic books are often strange — some might even say trippy.

In honor of April 20th, the day when everyone seems to have mind-altering moments on the brain, it seemed fitting to take a look at some of our favorite characters from the comic book world who have experimented with hallucinogenic and psychedelic drugs. While we certainly don't advocate such activities, we can't help but celebrate these comic-book moments that have varied from hilariously far-out to dangerously past the brink of insanity.

Read on for four of our favorite psychedelic, surreal and otherwise trippy comics and story arcs. Read More...

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Mark MillarWhen moviegoers finally get a chance to see director Matthew Vaughn's "Kick-Ass" this weekend, they'll leave the theater begging for another ass-kicking courtesy of the characters created by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.

While another "Kick-Ass" outing isn't immediately on the horizon just yet, our esteemed Splash Page Guest Editor has the next best thing to satisfy your "Kick-Ass" fix — reading recommendations!

Once you've regained consciousness from the roundhouse kick of awesome that "Kick-Ass" is sure to deliver, Millar recommends the following comic book reading experiences to keep your "Kick-Ass" cravings satisfied. Read More...

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PreacherBack in 2008, director Sam Mendes said he'd "love to make 'Preacher,' but there’s no script" — a problem that was solved when screenwriter John August came on board the project.

However, Mendes was reportedly linked to the next "James Bond" film earlier this year, which caused some to question whether he'd still helm "Preacher." Now it appears that Mendes has officially left the project behind.

"We were originally talking with Sam Mendes about doing the movie," producer Neal Moritz told Collider. "Sam Mendes is going to go off and do the Bond movie, so there’s another director that we’re talking to right now." Read More...

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Cover Artist

Splash Page welcomes Ed Tadem to our cover artist family (our custom-designed theme up top). Currently working on the forthcoming "Avengers" animated series, Tadem's work can also be seen in the "Jackie Karma" issues of Image's "'76," and in "Pop Gun, Volume 1." Ed Tadem can be found online at EdTadem.com.
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