Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider, Daredevil) spoke to Comics Continuum and stated that Garth Ennis’ Preacher is pretty much not going to happen with HBO. Here’s what he had to say:

“We were budgeting and everything and it was getting really close to going,” Johnson told The Continuum. “But the new head of HBO felt it was just too dark and too violent and too controversial. Which, of course, is kind of the point!

“It was a very faithful adaptation of the first few books, nearly word for word. They offered me the chance to redevelop it but I refused. I’ve learned my lesson on that front and I won’t do it again. So I’m afraid it’s dead at HBO.

“I’ve heard someone is in the process of getting the rights to turn it into a feature film. I hope that happens. But I hope it happens as a series of movies as one movie couldn’t do it justice. I really love that story and I dedicated a lot of my time to honor Garth’s work. But it wasn’t meant to be.”

Too controversial for HBO? That’s probably a first. But if you’re familiar with Preacher (which, you better be), I could see the controversy. If this isn’t going to happen at HBO, then the only other way it could happen will be feature films due to the content, and Johnson is right, it would have to be a series of movies. Having Mark Steven Johnson at the helm makes me very nervous, especially since he kind of screwed the pooch with my beloved Daredevil, but I guess if he is sticking to the source material as much as he says he is, I will stay cautiously optimistic, if this even happens.

In the mean time, if you haven’t read Garth Ennis’ Preacher you definately need to check it out, it’s fantastic!