PREACHER TV show given a pilot order by Sony

Garth Ennis's ultra-dark, ultra-violent comic book Preacher is to be adapted for television. HBO was offered the project several years ago and passed on it, by some reports to make Game of Thrones instead. Sam Mendes was then tipped to direct a movie version, but eventually opted for Skyfall, noting that the property was better-suited for TV. Sony Pictures Television, the makers of the recently-concluded Breaking Bad, have now picked up the TV rights.

Rumours that Arseface will be played by Piers Morgan cannot be substantiated at this time.

Sony have given an order for a pilot, with AMC (which screens The Walking Dead) picking up the US broadcast rights. Seth Rogen (yes, that one), Evan Goldberg and Breaking Bad writer Sam Caitlin are developing the series. Ennis is on board as a creative consultant.

Preacher centres on Jesse Custer, a preacher from Texas, who gains tremendous powers to influence other beings with the Word of God. Custer also learns of chaos erupting in Heaven in the wake of God going AWOL, with the angels urgently dispatching agents to recover the Word of God. Vampires and other supernatural entities also feature. The comic ran for 75 issues, running from 1995 to 2000, racking up huge amounts of both controversy (for its depiction of the Christian religion) and accolades alike.