Universal and Dark Horse agree 3 year deal!

Really smart move from Universal in this comic book/graphic novel film environment.

Universal have secured the rights to produce and distribute all of Dark Horse Entertainment’s original properties for film, now owning all the cinematic rights to every character and story in their back library for the next three years.

You can read the whole press release on the matter HERE.

Dark Horse are the home of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy character, of which Universal are to release Guillermo del Toro’s sequel this July and the studio will be hoping it’s just one of many books that they can successfully get off the ground.

Here are some of the excellent comic series which we may see adapted for screen…

The Goon is so awesome. It’s a gangster book with a distinctive comedic and supernatural edge with ghosts, apes and made scientists making an appearance regularly. It’s a great read and could make for an awesome dark animated movie… if I were in charge at Universal this would be the first property I would begin development on.

The Umbrella Academy premiered in September 2007 and focuses on a disbanded group of superheroes who reunite after the death of their adoptive father, to help save the world. It’s almost a dark and more realistic version of the X-Men and would be a pretty easy and potentially big money adaptation.

Fear Agent, a 50’s style sci-fi adventure which revolves around an alcoholic Texas spaceman and his fast paced adventures.

Other properties include Grendel, Criminal Macabre (of which Thomas Jane is the poster child for), The End League and X… among others.

There’s no word on how this deal will effect the adaptation of Rex Mundi which Johnny Depp owned the rights to and hired Fight Club scribe Jim Uhls to write the script for in September 2006. I believe Depp would still own the rights but who knows?

Dark Horse titles which are licensed elsewhere such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars, Conan, Sin City and Indiana Jones obviously won’t now be owned by Universal, they are strictly off limits.

Message to Universal: Get The Goon put into production. There’s big bucks and a great movie to be made out of that property.

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